Dipannita Maria Bagh
Researcher, International Law Studies Programme
Dipannita Maria Bagh is Researcher- International Law Studies Programme. Prior to joining Gateway House, she was at Institute of Human Rights and Democratic Governance (IHRDG), Spring University Myanmar, with dual roles as Editor since July 2023 and faculty member since September 2024, coordinating the elective course “Diplomacy for a Democratic Myanmar” for the 2023-2024 academic year. Prior to these appointments, she contributed as a Research Assistant at the Netaji Institute for Asian Studies in Kolkata, working on a Government of West Bengal-funded project examining Myanmar’s political transformation and its implications for regional cooperation, with particular focus on the country’s higher education landscape. In 2018, she completed a year-long research assignment monitoring developments in Bangladesh’s Chittagong district and their impact on Bangladesh’s 2018 general elections; the project, supervised by Professor Hari Shankar Vasudevan, was compiled for the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India (Kolkata Bureau). Dipannita has recently submitted her Ph.D. thesis in Political Science at North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Her doctoral research, titled ‘Sino-U.S. Contestation in Myanmar (2011-2020): A Study’, contributes to critical norms research on great-power competition and its implications for norm observance, polysemy, and contestation in transitioning states, specifically examining democratisation in Myanmar. She holds an M.Phil. in Foreign Policy Studies, an M.A. in South and Southeast Asian Studies, and a B.A. in Political Science (Honours), from the University of Calcutta, Kolkata. Her expertise encompasses democratic transitions, great-power dynamics and regional geopolitics with a focus on Myanmar and Southeast Asia.
Recent projects
Courtesy: Associated Press (AP)
The March 28 earthquake in Myanmar has devastated a country already in civil war. Multiple groupings and militias now occupy different parts of Myanmar, leaving its neighbours and the international community concerned about which stakeholder to engage with for provision of humanitarian relief, particularly those areas beyond the writ of the ruling military. What can India do to help?
