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Round The World
Engaging China, UK &France
INDIA JOINS THE BIG BOYS CLUB
By Dr. Chintamani Mahapatra
(School of International Studies, JNU)
New Delhi, February 04, 2008
In January 2008 alone, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held
summit meetings with three important global powers. He visited
China and the British and French Heads of Government came to
India.
Indian diplomacy in the 21st century has put priority on
establishing cooperative ties with the major powers of the
world. This is the logical outcome of India's emergence as a
new player in world politics and an important actor in
addressing global issues.
The most significant turn in Indian diplomacy is undoubtedly
the paradigm shift in its relations with the United States.
One of the most visible estranged relationships in
international relations has acquired the look of one of the
most engaged one as both Washington and New Delhi marched
along a new path to cement a new strategic partnership in an
increasingly turbulent world.
India's relationship with Russia has never been like the one
with the former Soviet Union. But New Delhi has managed to
restore a degree of respectability and closeness with Moscow
in the post-Cold War era. Indo-Russian relations, however, has
witnessed a series of ups and downs reminiscent of the Indo-US
relations of the Cold War years. Nonetheless, Russia continues
to view India as a significant strategic partner, backs New
Delhi on crucial security issues and aims at reviving the
earlier cordiality in the relationship.
What has been actually new in India's emerging foreign policy
is an altered direction in New Delhi’s approach towards China,
Britain and France. All these three countries have shared
formal or informal strategic relations with the United States
in the past mostly aimed at the former Soviet Union. And all
of them have been closely watching the newness in Indo-US
engagements.
At the level of trade and investment all these three major
powers have taken steps to take advantage of the economic
opportunities available in India. As a result, New Delhi’s
economic interactions with all of them have been steadily
growing.
However, at the political and strategic level, India's
approach to these three powers has been qualitatively and
quantitatively different. China was a competitor in the 1950s,
became hostile since 1960s and Sino-Indian relations began to
change in 1980s with a decision to resolve the territorial
disputes through dialogue and to maintain peace along the Line
of Actual Control. Since the late 1990s, China and India have
been moving forward to improve trade and investment ties with
each other.
France and Britain have been part of NATO, shared membership
with Pakistan in SEATO, improved ties with China in the
aftermath of the Sino-Soviet rift and never befriended India
at the time of its crisis, such as wars with Pakistan or
China.
However, the end of the Cold War, India's economic
liberalization, New Delhi's decision to overtly go nuclear,
resilience of the Indian economy in the face of international
sanctions, terrorist attacks on the United States in September
2001, and unprecedented expansion of the Indian economy in
last few years have altered the image of the country.
All major global powers have found India to be an attractive
strategic partner. Moreover, New Delhi has been constantly
engaging France, Britain, and China, among others, to chart
out a new paradigm of relationship.
Three factors have predominantly influenced the new approach
of the major powers towards India. One, Washington’s decision
to forge a strategic partnership with New Delhi has provided a
constructive inspiration for other powers to re-examine their
relationship with India.
Two, Pakistan's role in terrorist activities and proliferation
of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) has led to de-hyphenation
in the South Asian policies of all the major powers. Three, a
nuclear India with a resilient democracy and expanding economy
has emerged as an attractive destination for the business as
well as political leaders of these countries.
But India cannot wait for other leaders to come forward with
their proposals and ideas. The Prime Minister during his visit
to China made a strong point to the Chinese people about the
need to forge closer ties and sought to remove suspicions that
India is inching towards an anti-China alliance with the US.
He spoke of India's desire to develop strategic autonomy and
not alliances.
India has been regularly inter-acting at the highest level of
Government with France with a purpose to elevate bilateral
relationship to a point where the two countries would be
working towards the establishment of a multi-polar world.
Further, Indian diplomacy has succeeded in persuading Paris to
support India's permanent membership in the UN Security
Council and call for an expanded G 8 to include five more
countries including India in it. The recent visit to India by
the French President Nicolas Sarkozy is symbolic of better and
elevated ties between the two countries.
The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited India days
before President Sarkozy came to New Delhi to become the Chief
Guest at the Republic Day function. He proudly announced
London's support to India's membership in the UN Security
Council.
India has also pushed the case of major power cooperation in
countering terrorism and has made common cause with France,
Britain and China in principle to fight terrorism. While
economic relations have an independent trajectory in New
Delhi’s engagement with the major powers and the political
atmospherics appear to be quite congenial, the key to India's
continuing inter-actions with these major powers is sustained
cooperative relations with the US. The success of the Indo-US
nuclear deal is therefore imperative.
Those who are making noises in India about establishing
civilian nuclear cooperation with major powers, such as France
and even China should realize that the main gate to enter such
a road passes through Washington. The Government has already
gone through a turbulent political phase in domestic politics
on the issue of nuclear deal with the US.
If it has to experience a relatively turbulence free smooth
sale in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to extricate itself from the
international WMD control regimes, it needs the support of all
these major powers.
But expecting to succeed in civilian international nuclear
trade with other countries by excluding the US is an
unrealistic dream. India does not have to play one great power
against the other. India needs to be part of an international
regime of major powers that would aim at fighting nuclear
proliferation and promoting civilian nuclear energy
cooperation. ---- INFA
(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)
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