Thursday, August 29, 2013

The Game of Diplomacy


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