Srimanti Sarkar is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Political Science at the University of Calcutta, India and teaches political science at a post-graduate level at a college in Kolkata. Previously, she worked as a full-time researcher at the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, an autonomous think-tank under the Indian Ministry of Culture, on a project titled "The Shahbag Movement: Bangladesh's Democratic Dilemma." She is also an adjunct fellow at the Centre for Studies of International Relations and Developmental Studies in Kolkata. Her areas of research interest are democracy and democratization in South Asia, peace and conflict studies, political theory, and India's relationship with neighboring countries, with particular focus on Indian-Bangladeshi relations. She has undertaken several field trips to Bangladesh to further her research and has recently specialized on peace and conflict studies from Oslo and Akershus University College, Norway and Kulturstudier. She has participated in various national and international seminars, conferences, and workshops, and co-edited a book titled The Political Future of Afghanistan: Issues and Perspectives.