The
pre-independence era witnessed the political brass of India divided over the
degree of radicalism to be shown towards our British rulers. After we achieved
independence, the moderates and the extremists had a different question in
front of them. What stance to take against rest of the world? What principles
to behold to while interacting with the comity of nations? And how India should
play it’s part towards achieving international peace and cooperation?
The genesis
of our foreign policy was on the idealistic front and was corner stoned on
certain principles which we also preached to the world. Our first Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was the pioneer of this era as he held the foreign
affairs portfolio and unleashed a framework formulated with his vision of a
Peaceful world and which eventually shaped our foreign policy for years to
come. One of the most celebrated principles was that of Non-Alignment which meant that nations should not indulge in
groupings which had the potential to polarize the whole world. This surfaced in
the light of the cold war and when it was a bipolar world and countries were
facing the choice of joining one of the two groups.
Nehru along
with other world leaders like Josip Tito, Sukarno and Nasser founded the
Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) in 1961 which advocated a middle path for the
developing nations between the western and eastern blocks during the cold war
era. Among the other principles were Anti-colonialism, Anti-imperialism,
opposition to racialism, faith in the United Nations, disarmament and peaceful
use of Nuclear Energy. In the initial years, under Nehru, our foreign policy
was guided by idealism and he firmly stood by all these principles. In the
later year, several events like the collapse of Soviet Union, economic
liberalization, the rise of terrorism and the coming of coalition politics
seems to have altered our idealistic foreign policy and has transformed into a
more realistic one. But this certainly does not mean that we have abandoned
idealism. We are still inclined to promote democracy, nuclear disarmament,
strengthening of United Nation etc.
Another
important element of our foreign policy has been the principle of peaceful
coexistence, especially with our neighbors, and we have proved time and again
that New Delhi is willing to walk the extra mile to achieve this objective.
With Pakistan, despite provocation, we have always reiterated that India wants
a stable, friendly and progressive neighbor in Pakistan and a stable, free from
terror Afghan-Pak region would do wonders for the Indian sub-continent. The
recent vibes of stabilization of democracy of Pakistan is a good sign for India
to carry forward its policy of going back to the negotiation table and
expanding collaboration in trade and industry.
On the
other front, even with the unresolved boundary issues with China, New Delhi is
constantly practicing the policy of engagement. India welcomed the statement of
former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the growing confrontations between the two
nations when he said that there is enough space for India and China to grow and
develop together. Besides the boundary conflict, other irritants include the
Tibetan government in exile been allowed in India, the stapled visa given by
China to people of Arunachal Pradesh and the disputed dam-building exercises on
Bramhaputra in China. Moreover, recently there were some tense moments in the
Sino-Indian relations with the Chinese incursion into the Indian Territory. But
that was urgently taken up by the leaderships and sorted out soon enough.
India is
also engaged in the reconstruction efforts of Afghanistan with the aim of
bringing peace and stability in that country. That would eventually mean that
the strategic backyards for the jihadist forces in Pakistan would not have a
free hand in that region and in turn that would make India more secure. India
has also pledged large sums for as development aids to this region. More
importantly, India needs to play a bigger role now as the US forces gear up for
withdrawal next year. With Sri Lanka, the end of the civil war presented
historic new opportunities for reconciliation between the two sides in conflict
and India has been offering all the help which is needed to reconstruct and
rejuvenate the war-torn country but the process has been terribly slow and
India going against Sri Lanka in the resolutions pertaining to human rights
violations has taken the relationship to a rocky patch.
India has
articulated a policy in our neighborhood that emphasizes the advantages of
building networks, of inter-connectivity, trade and investment so that
prosperity can be shared and the region can benefit from India’s rapid economic
growth and rising prosperity. The world today is increasingly multivalent
marked by considerable political cooperation amongst the major powers. The
recent economic crisis and the response to it by major powers have clearly
demonstrated that big powers are more than willing to cooperate in today’s
world. India’s relationship with USA has transformed substantially after the
nuclear deal, we have also developed a strong partnership with the European
Union (EU) covering wide range of areas including space, education etc. and our
traditional relationship with Russia continues to be strong especially in the
area of defence. Thus, India’s relationship with great powers has improved
substantially and the most heartening fact is that we managed to achieve this
without antagonizing others.
Apart of
these diplomatic ties, India is pursuing a comprehensive convention on
International Terrorism in UN. Also, India is fully committed to global
anti-piracy efforts and India is a founder member of the Contact Group on Piracy
off the coast of Somalia (CGPCS). India is for determined action against the
kingpins, financiers and facilitators of piracy through tracking of financial
flows as it obstructs the trade process in the Indian Ocean which is central to
Indian participation in the world trade.
Talking of
doctrines, Gujral’s Doctrine has been one of the important facets of our
foreign policy. Initiated by I.K.Gujral when he was foreign minister in 1996,
this doctrine is pertaining to India’s smaller neighbors who viewed India as a
bullying big brother. They were not happy with the assertions of India. Gujral
talked about unilateral concessions to smaller neighbors without expecting any
reciprocity. Under this we signed the ‘Ganga’ water sharing agreement with
Bangladesh and ‘Maha kali treaty’ with Nepal.
India has always aspired to promote and develop cooperative regionalism
under this doctrine.
With the
rise of South East Asia and the opening up of new market opportunities for
India in these countries, our Look East Policy has again been at the centre of
debate in the diplomatic circles. Created and nurtured by former Prime Minister
P.V.Narsimha Rao, it talked about improving India’s relationship with South
East Asian countries and today it is extended to far east and even Australia
and New Zealand, Japan etc. Initially the focus was on energy requirement but
later on political and strategic dimensions were attached. In line with this
policy, India became a dialogue partner to ASEAN and also inked a Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) to enhance trade. Although in the initial years, the economic
relations could not move forward because of the bottlenecks in India but soon
after the economic reforms, things have finally started to tick and the future
offers bright promises.
So, given
India’s cordial relationships with almost all power centers of this multi-polar
world, India’s growing military might and the soft power that is has by virtue
of its cultural diversity, India has a genuine claim at the core of world
affairs. But at the same time, India needs to stand by the principles of
Justice and Peace and should not indulge in alliances for petty benefits. India
needs to play a more active role in the events happening across the globe and
should move forward with a vision taking everyone along. India must also work
hard to maintain peace and order in the sub-continent as it is quintessential
for sustained growth. The largest democracy of the world must share its
experiences with those struggling to establish corridors of democratic
institutions. And for all this to happen, India must become assertive,
accommodative and a team player by changing the way it plays the game of
diplomacy!
Published in Pardesi Pulse
