Hosted by New Mandala, Near West offers a series of perspectives from South Asian scholarship generated by members and affiliates of ANU’s South Asia Research Institute (SARI). Near West responds to New Mandala’s Southeast Asian locus, looking at this region’s immediate western neighbourhood.

Established in 2012, SARI builds on a rich legacy of research on South Asian subjects across the humanities and social sciences at ANU. Encompassing work on history, literature, public policy, languages, economics, visual culture and gender issues, SARI’s membership continues to produce multidisciplinary research on South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). Examining the region’s rich past, complex present, and global impact, Near West aims to illuminate the importance of South Asia as reflected in current work by SARI members and affiliates. As India gears up for General Elections (April/May 2019), Near West will deliver timely and critical updates on issues that matter for the South Asian region, and for the world.