India - Africa Summit :Why it is important from scroll.com

The Third India Africa Summit takes place in New Delhi between October 26-30. Over 50 African countries are expected to take part with most of them represented by their heads of state or government. This will be India’s most important and extensive outreach and will set the stage for even more economic and political interaction between India and Africa.

African and Indian ties are as old as the story of mankind. Mankind is generally believed to have originated in Africa, from where it migrated to other parts of the world, but first to South Asia across the Arabian peninsula and Southern Iran, about 80,000 years ago, according to the genetic evidence analysed by Luigi Cavalli Sforza and Stephen Oppenheimer. Closer to the present, the common experience of Africa and India with European colonialism gave them language, law, tradition and commerce that strongly bind them, as both regions strive to break out of the cycle of poverty and backwardness.

Growing fast

Africa is the second-largest and second-most populous continent on earth with an estimated population in 2015 of 1.17 billion people. Africa is home to 54 sovereign states and countries. The total Gross Domestic Product of the African continent is now over $2.8 trillion and it is growing at over 5% annually. This pace of growth will ensure that most African countries will be “middle income” by 2025. The projected GDP of Africa in 2050 is $29 trillion, placing it in the same range as India’s projected 2050 GDP. This is projected to be anywhere between $33 trillion-$55 trillion by 2050, depending on the growth trajectory and economic policies adopted. Clearly those who ignore Africa can now do so only at their own cost.

The two fastest growing economies, China and India are already major partners in Africa’s growth – 12.5% of Africa's exports are to China, and 4% are to India, which accounts for 5% of China's imports and 8% of India's. This will only rise, specially India’s due to its faster growth trajectory and historical and geographical proximity to Africa.

The World Bank estimated in 2011 that 32.7% of Indians and 47.5% of Africans were living on less than $1.25 per day. Together, nearly 900 million people in India and Africa live in extreme poverty – almost 70% of the worldwide total. Strong economic growth over the past decade has made significant inroads into poverty. In the past decade, India posted an average GDP growth rate of 7.4% and Africa of 5.7%. Nearly 10% of Africa's population escaped absolute poverty while India recorded even faster poverty reduction, with nearly 17% of its population exiting extreme poverty.

The Indian growth story since 2000 has taken the country to the third rank in global GDP in Purchasing Power Parity terms. By 2050, India’s GDP is expected to be the largest, as its favourable demographics will endow it with the world’s biggest middle class. In the next four decades, 180 million Indian families will join its middle class, making it the largest expansion ever of the middle class in the world. The global growth story is now jumping continents.

Global economic growth engine

Africa is now being tipped as the global economic growth engine of the coming decades. Its vast natural wealth and favourable demographic profile are expected to turn the continent as a whole into a growth engine that is expected to run faster than any of the world’s current economic powerhouses, including China, Brazil and India.

Within Africa, a handful of countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Mozambique, Ghana and Zambia have caught the attention of economists and businessmen alike because of their improved infrastructure, natural resources, pool of skilled manpower and relative political and institutional stability. These countries stand out as the source of the greatest economic opportunity.

In the past decade, India and Africa posted average GDP growth rates of 7.4% and 5.7%, respectively. Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to grow at 5.6% and India at 6.3% in the next five years. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that six of the 10 highest growing economies between 2012 and 2017 will be African. India and the African continent are also home to growing middle classes. Rapid urbanisation, rising disposable income and connectivity have triggered off unprecedented economic activity and growth in the two regions, and have made them the new engines of global growth, along with a somewhat fading China. While Chinese growth is expected to slow down even further, Indian and African growths are poised to keep increasing for the next few decades, given their favourable dependency ratios.

Old trade ties

Indian and African trade is as old as recorded history itself. There is much evidence that the Indus Valley civilisation had trade links with African countries that were fellow littorals of the Arabian Sea.  Arab seafarers joined Indian and African markets and production centres and a brisk exchange of goods and people ensued. Nature favoured the establishment and expansion of this trade as the seasonal monsoon winds favoured relatively swift and safe to and fro passages. Indian merchants were quick to take advantage of this and scoured the eastern seaboard of Africa in search of gems, gold and ivory. East African mangrove poles too were a favourite item due to their length and mechanical properties that made them especially suitable as roof supports in buildings.

Over the centuries, the merchant kingdoms of Sindh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Konkan and Malabar traded with East African merchant states such as Barawa, Kismayu, Kilwa, Sofala and Mombasa. Consequently the Indian silver rupee or sikka became the currency in that sprawling area and kept this status even during the European colonial period. Swahili which developed as a lingua franca throughout Eastern Africa is a mixture of Arabic and native languages with many loan words from Hindustani.

Africa also attracted an Indian diaspora, some of it forced, but which is now very much a part of the nations it has made its own. This population is now in excess of 2.16 million and is well placed in African societies in business, government, teaching and other professions, and now effectively bridges the two regions.

India’s modern day bilateral trade with Africa picked up late but despite this has been burgeoning at an exponential pace. It was a relatively modest $1 billion in 1995, but had risen to $35 billion in 2008, and the three following years it had scaled to $45 billion. This year it is expected to be in the region of $70 billion.

African exports to India have been growing annually at 32.2% while Indian exports to Africa grew annually at 23.6%. Consequently Africa's trade surplus with India is rising rapidly, albeit driven in large part by a narrow range of suppliers and commodities. The top six African exporters – Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco – account for 89% of total African exports by value to India thanks mainly to exports of oil and gas, ores and gold. Crude oil and gas account for over 66% of exports to India, gold and other precious metals accounting for another 16% of exports, and most of the rest to import of fertilisers from Morocco, Egypt and Algeria.

Outside these top six African exporters, though a different picture emerges. India runs a trade surplus with 40 out of the 54 African countries. Trade is significantly more diversified at a product level and almost all exports from India have some degree of technological input.

India’s merchandise imports totalled $447.5 billion in 2015. Of this oil imports accounted for $116.4 billion and gold was $34.4 billion. India has also emerged as a major consumer of oil and gold. This has contributed to the huge expansion of Indian imports from Africa, particularly with West Africa.

The population of Africa has more than doubled in just the past three decades, giving it a very youthful demographic profile. More than half the population is less than 25 years old. The population of Africa is currently projected to quadruple in just 90 years, with a growth rate that will make Africa more important than ever to global economy and more.

A rapidly growing India not only needs more commodities from Africa but also needs its vast market to pay for them. Africa is thus a great economic opportunity for India, and rightly India has turned its focus towards enhancing its economic ties with Africa. Just as important is the realisation that as India seeks a more important role in world affairs, it cannot remain indifferent to Africa’s 54 members in the United Nations.

Indian Ocean – Checkmating China

Currently, the Indian Ocean is a hotbed of conflicting interests for the two major South Asian political and economic rivals viz India and China. While India rightly looks upon the Indian Ocean as its backyard with tremendous strategic importance, China has thrown down the gauntlet in its bid to claim political and commercial hegemony and naval supremacy among the countries of the Indian Ocean region.

Riding on a burgeoning volume of international trade and a booming military might, it has been on a spree of acquiring strategic assets in the form of ports in many countries across and beyond the region and setting up bases, like in Bangladesh (Chittagong), Sri Lanka (Hambantota), Seychelles, Pakistan (Gwadar), Kenya (Lamu) and Tanzania (Bagamoyo). Called the ‘String of Pearls’ by Western sources, these ports would purportedly enable China to secure its commercial interests in the procurement of raw materials and sources of energy for its energy deficient economy.

A likely scenario to emerge over the years in the Chinese scheme of things is that the dependence of theworld on crude oil will increase manifold; keeping pace with the demand in oil will be the control of China over the Indian Ocean. It has accordingly aligned its foreign and defence policies to ensure its economic success the world over and emergence as a market leader.Naval BasesAlthough China claims that the underlying motive of the Pearls of ports is purely an economic one viz to ensure its maritime interests for energy security, the current ground realities in the Indian Ocean throw up a different kind of indicator, making the communist country’s intentions appear far from innocuous. China has set up electronic intelligence gathering facilities on islands in the Bay of Bengal, and funded construction of a canal across the Kra Isthmus in Thailand. It has entered into a military agreement with Cambodia and has been building up forces in the South China Sea.
The Gwadar deep sea port in Pakistan provides China with a ‘listening post’ from where it can monitor Indian activities in the Arabian Sea. China can patrol the Indian Ocean sea-lanes for its security of shipments. It has a naval base on Hainan Island that can hold submarines, which pose a major threat to the US, but could be a threat to India too. China has dismissed reports of any plans of creating military bases overseas, but Chinese maritime strategists such as Shen Dingli advocate the need for China to set up overseas military bases.

China would not fight shy of protecting its energy imports that pass through the Indian Ocean. Nor is it comfortable with Washington and New Delhi being the security providers in the region. Inability to sustain troops in the region would leave a chink in its armour, which would mean that China’s energy imports would be highly vulnerable in the event of a military standoff with either the US or India.

Being already embroiled in maritime disputes with several countries in the South and East China seas over the ownership of islands, China is wary of the possibility of the Indian Ocean waters becoming another contentious area at some point of time in the future; in the absence of an effective blue-water Navy to protect its commercial and political interests.


Ruffling Indian Feathers

China has raised India’s hackles by docking submarines at the port of Colombo in Sri Lanka. India’s concerns have been further raised by the expansion of Chinese maritime powers with the development of aircraft carrier battle groups. Currently, China has the largest aircraft carrier in Asia. And alarm bells rang when Chinese nuclear submarines carried out patrols in the Bay of Bengal. The possible presence of Chinese nuclear missiles so close to its coastline was a matter of utmost concern to India’s nuclear deterrence.


India and the US

The first salvo of a resurgent India under the Narendra Modi government in response to a belligerent China’s ambitious maritime agenda being aggressively pushed forward by that country was fired soon after Modi became Prime Minister and visited the US in September 2014. Prominent among the issues discussed by the Indian leader with President Obama was maritime security of all nations to peacefully carry out their trade activities in the Indian Ocean.

During the visit of President Obama to India in January 2015, the two leaders reaffirmed “the importance of safeguarding maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight throughout the region, especially in the South China Sea”. They also called “on all parties to avoid the threat or use of force” in maritime disputes. China sharply reacted to an India-US joint statement referring to the disputes in the South China Sea, saying that only the countries involved in the disputes should work together to resolve the problems.

“At the current stage, the situation in the South China Sea is generally stable and there is no problem with navigational freedom and freedom of flights,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. According to political observers, Modi perceives a greater role for India in Asian affairs in pursuance of his policy of “Act East”, coinciding with Obama’s own pivot to Asia policy. Events after Modi assumed office as Prime Minister, have contributed to bringing India and the US toward a consensus on China.


India and Japan

During his August 2014 visit to Japan, Modi and his Japanese counterpart reaffirmed the importance of upgrading and strengthening of defence relations between the two countries in their strategic partnership. Keeping a wary eye on a rising China, the two leaders agreed to accelerate talks on the possible sale of an amphibious aircraft to India. The coming together of the two countries in matters of strategic partnership was seen by political observers as a bold initiative on the part of India and Japan to redefine the balance of power in the region and counter the ambitious expansionist policy of China.

India’s Extended Neighbourhood

India has extended its neighbourhood beyond the South Asian region where it has its presence in the Southeast and Indo-Pacific region. The Southeast Asian states have evinced interest in India by playing an active role in the region to counter the dominant Chinese position. India in recent years has strengthened its relations in the Southeast Asian region in pursuance of its ‘Look East Policy’ launched in the 1990s and reinvigorated and renamed under the Modi government as ‘Act East Policy’. India has integrated the Pacific in its extended neighbourhood concept. It has signaled that its Act East Policy was not limited to Southeast Asia, but goes beyond that to Australia and other Pacific Ocean nations.

India is not interested in taking on China in a direct confrontation. However, Chinese imperialist designs may succeed in uniting the countries of the Southeast Asian region. China would not be inclined to bargain for such a situation as it would be difficult for it to contend with. Any alignment of interest in the region would significantly affect the balance of power, posing serious consequences for all nations. India’s growing technological advances (with the launch of Agni-V) has placed it amongst an elite group of nations. This in itself has far-reaching consequences for the States in the region.


Strengthening Bilateral Relations with Island Nations

With a view to countering China, India has upgraded its military ties with Maldives, Madagascar and Myanmar in the Indian Ocean and with Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia and Japan. India has also enhanced its economic and security relations with South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia.

In order to counter China’s naval presence in the Indian Ocean, India has its naval presence in the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Malaysia launched defence cooperation with India by signing a memorandum of understanding in 1993. Defence cooperation between the two countries has been revived in 2008. Since then India has had a substantive military mission in Malaysia, focusing on training pilots and air force personnel.

Singapore has emerged as the closest security partner of India in the East, given its critical location in the Strait of Malacca at the confluence of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Thailand is holding joint naval exercise with Indian Navy and under the comprehensive MoU signed in 2005 they are regularly conducting exercises in the area adjacent to their international maritime boundary lines. India is increasing its defence cooperation with Indonesia after the related cooperation agreement of 2001.

Australia and India concluded a pact on joint naval exercise in 2005 and a more comprehensive memorandum of understanding on maritime security cooperation in 2006. And during the visit of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to India in November 2009, both sides agreed to enhance their defence interaction, with a special emphasis on naval cooperation. Furthermore, India has signed agreements to develop infrastructure with two Indian Ocean countries, Mauritius and Seychelles in their two islands – Agalega and Assumption.


India and Maldives

Despite its geographical proximity to India and having historically been within India’s sphere of strategic influence, Maldives has increasingly been strengthening its relationship with Beijing. Chinese investments in the Maldives have increased over the years, ranging from housing projects to other infrastructure projects such as building roads and airports. This has become a major cause of concern for New Delhi.


India and Seychelles

Location of Seychelles and its proximity to the coast of Africa makes it a lucrative option for Beijing to establish a naval base in that country. China is already participating in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and has growing economic interests in Africa. However, India and Seychelles share close military ties as New Delhi helps the island nation secure its EEZ by presenting surveillance aircrafts and patrolling ships.


India and Sri Lanka

The previous government of Mahinda Rajapaksa appeared fairly China-friendly, awarding many infrastructure development projects to Beijing. The Maithripala Sirisena government is now reviewing all Chinese investments in the country, especially the US$1.5 billion port city project. The Sirisena government has also reassured India that such “incidents, from whatever quarter, do not take place under our tenure”.


India and Mauritius

As Mauritius looks to attract investments from China, India is stepping up its game by providing a 1,300-tonne Indian-built patrol vessel, the Barracuda, to Mauritius to help the island nation protect its coastline. While India may not indulge in any China containment policy, New Delhi realizes it is absolutely crucial to reengage with these islands and secure its strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific region.


China’s Stated Position

While affirming that it has no plans to set up naval bases in the countries of the Indian Ocean region, China has warned that the Indian Ocean could end up “as an ocean of conflict and trouble” if countries like India, the US and China itself failed to engage with each other more constructively as their interests begin to overlap.


India’s Call

This is an opportune moment for India which has achieved political stability under Narendra Modi’s leadership to expand trade with China and to go all out for the settlement of the border issue. With support from regional countries and associations, India can play a decisive role in the region and the world. To this end, it is imperative that India take pro-active measures to engage China in dialogues for settling its long standing border disputes with that country. It is an established fact that China would only involve itself in any meaningful exercise of resolution of disputes when the adversary nation is politically stable, economically vibrant and militarily formidable.

India should strive and acquire the required edge under the present dispensation in the country and emerge as a strong enough partner nation, to do business with China. Needless to say, despite the Western orientation of India’s foreign policy in recent times, India should accord top priority to its own interests while dealing with a militarily and economically stronger China which views the West with suspicion. And acquisition of an early Permanent Member status in the United Nations Security Council would set India in the same league as China, which is an essential prerequisite for checkmating the latter in the Indian Ocean.

Source :http://defencenews.in

Teesta River Agreement between India & Bangladesh: Why Controversy?

As such an old topic but came in news against because Modi's Bangladesh visit.
Geography of Teesta River:
Teesta originates from Kangse Glacier, Charamu Lake in Sikkim, most of its catchment area lies in India. It enters Bangladesh, joins Brahmaputra, and ends in Bay of Bengal.After Brahmapurta, Ganges and Meghna also joins it; Teesta is the 4th largest river in Bangladesh.
Sequence of events:
-W.Bengal government began constructing a barrage and catchment area on Teesta.
-Bangladesh opposed, because their “rice bowl” Rangpur region depends on Teesta.
-To pacify them, India began negotiation.
1983: India- Bangladesh concluded and ad-hoc agreement on Teesta. Who gets how much?
Water share from Teesta..
India 39%
Bangladesh 36%
Unallocated 25%
But problem unsolved, because Bangladesh wanted equal sharing.
1984: Joint-river commission appointed to collect hydrological data & suggest a rational method for water sharing. Commission recommended increasing
Bangladesh’s share, on logic that W.Bengal’s barrage is very close to Bangladesh border (~90 km). Some water will penetrate underground and benefit both countries anyways.
New formula proposed
Water share from Teesta
India 42.5%
Bangladesh 37.5%
Unallocated 20% for the river (otherwise nothing will reach to Bay of Bengal!)
2010:
Bangladesh Teesta Water sharing & Terrorism 
BANGLADESH: TEESTA WATER SHARING TO TERRORISM
Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) calls Pakistani political establishment to stop Indians from constructing dams on rivers flowing to Pakistan, raise the matter in UN, asked civil society(!) to support this cause. And even suggested that Kashmiri Mujahideen should be given a “Free hand” to destroy Bhakra dam!
In other words, Hafiz Saeed is using “economy/farmers’ plight” as a new propaganda tool to promote terrorism.
Sep. 2011
Mohan plans to visit Bangladesh, sign accords for Teesta and Land border disputes.
He invited five state CM that share border with Bangladesh, to join him in this visit.
But on eleventh hour, W.Bengal CM Mamata
Banerjee dropped from this visit to protest against Teesta sharing agreement.
W.Bengal CM Mamatha’s position:
This treaty will dry out Northern region of W.Bengal & hurt Indian farmers.
1998: Bangladesh’s largest irrigation project
“Teesta Barrage” began. With help of this water, Bangladeshi farmers already have three cropping seasons per year. So, they don’t deserve any more water. At that time, Trinmool Congress was the single largest coalition partner in UPA, therefore Mohan had to drop the Teesta accord. He could only sign Land boundary agreement with Bangladesh.
^Ok this is upto 2011. why is the topic in news in 2014?
March 2014
BIMSTEC summit held at Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar. Mohan assured Haseena about early conclusion of Teesta accord.
April 2014
On Indian side On Bangladeshi side Mamatha tells voters to “teach a lesson” to Congies.
Because otherwise next Congi PM will sign
Teesta accord = Northern parts of W.Bengal will become dry, water shortage for drinking and irrigation. Terrorist Parties like Jamaat-e-Islami & their supporters like Khalida Zia have started Dharna pradarshan in Dhaka’s Jantar Mantar.
Their claim “India has reduced releasing water from Teesta but Hasina’s “Secular” Bangladesh Awami League party is doing nothing to get fair share from Teesta. Bangladeshi paddy farmers are suffering!” (Recall the same propaganda by Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) in Pakistan in 2010.
May 2014
Bangladesh PM Hasina says “India’s central government (Mohan) was sincere, but Mamata raised objections hence the deal could not be.signed.”
June 2015
Teesta takes back seat as land deal grabs spotlight. No serious efforts to resolve the case.

Source: Praful Bhardwaj from Team work for CSE-2015

Land Boundary Agreement

India and Bangladesh on 6 June 2015 ratified the historic Land Boundary Agreement between the two countries that will finally allow tens of thousands of people living in 161 border enclaves to choose their nationality. It will also permanently fix the contours of the 4,000 km India-Bangladesh border. This ratification was done on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2-day state visit of Bangladesh that started on the same day.

All about the agreement
– The Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India and Bangladesh was agreed upon initially in 1974, when the Prime Ministers of the two countries signed the agreement to exchange enclaves and simplify the international border. However, the said agreement was not brought into effect due to several reasons, both political and bilateral.
– A revised version of the agreement was finally adopted by the two countries 41 years later, when the Parliament of India passed the 100th Amendment to the Indian Constitution on 7 May 2015.
– Nearly 160 enclaves exist on either side of the border, a historical oddity left after the Partition in 1947. There are 51 Bangladeshi enclaves with about 15,000 people within states like Meghalaya, Tripura, Assam and West Bengal.
– Under the agreement, the enclave residents could continue to reside at their present location or move to the country of their choice.
– Under the agreement, India will have an advantage of 500 acres and 10,000 acres will go to Bangladesh.
– The agreement settles the question of citizenship for over 50,000 people.
– The issue has been a major irritant in ties between the two countries which share a 4,096-km-long border, most of which is porous.
– The settlement of the LBA comes as both countries have settled their maritime boundary. On 7 July 2014, the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration delineated the maritime boundary between the two neighbours, the Exclusive Economic Zone and the continental shelf within and beyond 200 nautical miles.
– With settlement of the boundary, both countries can move towards building border of infrastructure, especially in the north east to boost trade and sub-regional connectivity.
– At least fifteen states in India now have to clear this agreement, which is unlikely to be a problem.

Source: GK AMIN from Team work for CSE-2015

My Review on 'Applied Diplomacy: Through the Prism of Mythology' by Ambassador T P Sreenivasan

How you fell when someone had a wide experience on Diplomacy and world power corridors, who had enjoyed the company of former from Prime ministers of India to top world leaders like US President Barak Obama, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and German Chancellor Angela Markel as granted and who bring the laurels in International stage by his accomplishment’s sits next to you with a smile and speaks to you as a philosopher or a friend about his days in pastoral lands to horseshoe table debates in UN Security Council? This is what I experienced when turning the pages of 'Applied Diplomacy: Through the Prism of Mythology' by Ambassador T P Sreenivasan

Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, the roles played by him being in IFS is not less than  Arjuna in battle field of kurukshetra, here the battle is with the words mixed with might and reciprocal favors in diplomatic circles at world forums to secure the nation interests and to reflect the dictums of his masters in South Block.

In this book, he poured the utmost wisdom, knowledge and experience he gain over a period of four decades. Diya S Iyer edited the writings and speeches delivered by Sreenivasan in to seven chapters each one are an epitome of it.

Hunuman: As the mascot of IFS, the first ever diplomat that India sent abroad elaborates upon the current state of Indian Foreign policy. He presented the life of an aspiring young diplomat and challenges there in. He had given insights about it charms of diplomacy, importance of culture, traits of 21^st century diplomat, Spouse as Cultural ambassadors and the training that matters.

Vibheeshana: Though he is a brother of Demon king Ravana, who stands for righteousness in the midst of threats and fears, portrays India in its pusillanimous yet positive take on its neighborhood. He remark bully explained the three evolutionary phases of the Indian Foreign policy. He explained the strict reciprocity policy towards Pakistan followed by Chain Insurability as its asset and India’s regional engagements.

Ashwatthama: The power house of Kauravas, who was cursed to live a prolonged life as he erred under the ire of humiliation, warns us about the wrongdoings that unquestioned power can instigate, as in a super power like USA. Dedicated to the romance of India and US as seasonal lovers always had unknown reason for smile and cry reached its zenith with raising China and consequence of nuclear trade. The Nuclear trade occupies more space than it deserved.

Parasurama: who possess the most destructive weapons ever that annihilate life on earth warns about hazards of nuclear weapons urges us ‘Atoms for peace and Global Zero’. He criticized the mad men race for nuclear arsenal though the 9/11 demonstrated that the power to destroy the world many times over provides no guarantee of security. The author who had earlier worked in IAEA as Governor presents a mixed thought about Indian energy security through Nuclear energy attributing the Fukushima disaster.

Kripacharya: The United Nations, who struggled to maintain its relevance in today’s world. As an Insider he presented how the UN works and power politics from General Assembly to UN Security council those are still unknown to the outsiders. Sreenivasan elucidate the bi-standards of P-5 countries in Security Council to reforms and India as a permeant member. He abashed the unpredictability as a hallmark of the Norwegian Nobel committee when it comes to the awarding of the Nobel Peace prize between OPCW and Malala. He pointed the apathy of India in Securing the leading positions in UN agencies which certainly an eye opener to Foreign Ministry and PMO.

He added the spices of Kerala to in his writings in Mahabali. This explains the typical Malayali and his second innings as Commentator, evangelist on Foreign policy, followed by his grand plans for Higher Education 2.0 for Kerala.

Vyasa: The master story teller by himself made an attempt to show his veneration towards his master JS Mehta, passion about writing, and his life as an inspiration to millions of boys and girls who looks for hope to enter in corridors of power to drive a change.

TP Sreenivasan with all love he had on his service IFS made a strong attempt to inspire the youth of this nation to opt for it. His writings are delightful and thought provoking, laced with humor proved him a commendable writer.

Diya S Iyer had made his mentor proud by brining on a whole range of subjects, in a most imaginatively structured compilation with the uncanny link that she established between Indian mythology and Diplomacy.

 Wisdom tree India stands by its name by publishing this book. I am sure this would be one of the finest in there book self. I greatly recommend this book as bible for the next generation diplomats, students on international relations and readers who want to know the unsung heroism of diplomats.

Finally I am thankful to the Naman kapur from Wisdom tree for choosing me to write review on this book. He made this day one will stands special forever.

APPLIED DIPLOMACY — Through the Prism of Mythology: Writings of T.P. Sreenivasan: Edited by Divya S. Iyer; Wisdom Tree, 4779/23, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002. Rs. 895.

Reviewed by: Gopinath Jyothi

India’s tango with the great powers

Geopolitical and economic factors and the re-energised relationship between the U.S. and India are the drivers of change in the trilateral relationship between India, Russia and China. The cumulative impact of these two trends points to a new, emerging configuration of the triangular relationship

The latest trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of India, Russia and China was held on shifting strategic sands. It would be no exaggeration to say that the triangular relationship between these countries is entering a new phase — one that differs significantly from the past. India’s ability to navigate this unfolding terrain will not only impinge on its relationships with Russia and China, but also on its wider, international objectives and choices.

The drivers of change in this trilateral relationship are primarily geopolitical and economic. The civil war in Ukraine shows no sign of abating, nor indeed does Russia’s involvement in the conflict. The resurgence of the fighting in eastern Ukraine has left the peace talks in tatters. And Russian support for the rebels has ensured that the Ukrainian forces cannot gain the upper hand. Indeed, the Ukrainians have suffered heavily in the recent fighting. This has led to a chorus of calls in the West to arm the Ukrainian forces. Although U.S. President Barack Obama has demurred against this, several influential voices — including Mr. Obama’s nominee for Defence Secretary, Ashton Carter — have come out in favour of providing heavy weapons to Ukraine.

Any such move will lead Russian President Vladimir Putin to dig in his heels still deeper. Russia already faces a raft of economic sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) and the U.S. The Russian economy is apparently wilting under the one-two punch of these sanctions and the free-fall in oil prices. The projected slowdown in growth, the depleting foreign exchange reserves, the rising inflation, the downgrading of Russia’s credit rating to junk status: all point to a serious economic crunch. The economic sanctions have already led Russia to tilt closer towards China. The talk of providing weapons to Ukraine or imposing further sanctions will accentuate this shift.

The second driver of change is the re-energised relationship between the U.S. and India. The U.S.-India Joint Strategic Vision put out during Mr. Obama’s visit not only singles out the South China Sea dispute but also commits India and the U.S. to work together with other democracies in the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific region. The wisdom of issuing such a statement is debatable. Are we staking our credibility before creating capabilities? Does it needlessly restrict our room for diplomatic manoeuvre in the event of a crisis in the South China Sea? New Delhi insists that a strategic embrace of the U.S. need not limit its relations with China. While this may be true in some generic sense, we should not forget that every move on the chessboard of international politics will invite countermoves. We do not yet live in a world that is free of consequences.

India-Russia relationship

The cumulative impact of these two trends points to a new, emerging configuration of the triangular relationship between India, Russia and China. Going forward, Russia-China ties might become the strongest side of the triangle. From India’s standpoint, this is historically unprecedented. New Delhi’s strategic ties with Moscow first took shape in the late 1950s. The backcloth to the blossoming of this relationship was provided by India’s deteriorating relationship with China owing to the disputed boundary. At the same time, ideological and strategic ties between Moscow and Beijing were coming apart. Although the Russians played an ambivalent role during the war of 1962, Indo-Soviet ties, especially in defence, continued to tighten.

The clashes between Soviet and Chinese forces in 1969 led Moscow to propose a treaty of friendship with India. The treaty was eventually consummated at the height of the Bangladesh crisis of 1971. This crisis also saw the American opening towards Maoist China, which subsequently led to a strategic nexus aimed at the Soviet Union. While New Delhi and Moscow were pulled together by their shared concerns about Beijing, India found its choices being circumscribed in other areas as well. For instance, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, India publicly supported the Russians, while the Americans and the Chinese covertly assisted Pakistan and the Mujahideen against the Red Army.

By the time the Cold War drew to an end, there was a rapprochement between Russia and China. The collapse of the Soviet Union also led India to look more towards the West. Yet, at no point, was there a possibility of a Russia-China entente of the kind that is now crystallising. Nor did the normalisation of the Russia-China relationship outweigh Indo-Russian ties. Most importantly, the developing relationship between Moscow and Beijing did not impact on New Delhi’s immediate interests.

All this appears to be changing. In June 2014, Russia announced the lifting of its long-standing embargo on arms sales to Pakistan. In November, Russia and Pakistan signed their first ever military cooperation agreement. The Russians argue that if India can buy defence equipment from the U.S., why couldn’t they sell to Pakistan. The problem for India, of course, is the strategic import of such moves by Russia. Then again, we must realise that our growing proximity to the U.S. reduces our leverage over Russia. As does Russia’s increasing tilt towards China. As always, a bit of history can be useful.

“Russia-China ties might become the strongest side of the triangle. From India’s standpoint, this is historically unprecedented.”

Back in the 1960s, the Russians first mooted the idea of selling military equipment to Pakistan. The Indian response was swift and sharp. In a meeting with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi bluntly said that “nothing should be done from which it could be inferred that the Soviet Union treated India at par with Pakistan.” India, she added, was “especially worried with regard to Soviet help [to Pakistan], as such help might neutralise what we have obtained from the Soviet Union.” Moscow promptly backed off. The Russians did so because they needed Indian support in their own problems with China. Moreover, India — unlike Pakistan — was not an American ally.

Security architecture

The strategic picture now is rather different. Discussions in the recent trilateral meeting underscored the complexities that will confront India. The joint statement issued in Beijing makes the usual noises about the desirability of a multipolar world. Yet, several points need to be unpacked. The statement calls for a security architecture in Asia that must be “open, inclusive, indivisible and transparent”. The use of “indivisible” is interesting. This refers to the American “pivot” and attempts at rallying its allies. By contrast, the India-U.S. statement supports — at least rhetorically — the U.S.-led efforts. The Chinese and Russians have clearly taken note.

Things would be easy for India if it confronted stark choices between the U.S. and China. Consider the position taken by the three countries on climate change. The statement hopes that in 2015, a legally-binding instrument would be arrived at on the basis of “equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.” This fits with India’s negotiating position so far. But the fact is that the U.S. and China have already agreed upon a plan that effectively carves out an exceptional space for themselves and leaves little for countries like India to work with. This is a nice example of the “G2” solutions for which India will have to watch out.

Another instance of this might be in international trade. The joint statement affirms that the World Trade Organization (WTO) must remain the “preeminent global forum trade”. This reflects their concern about U.S. efforts to create new regional trading blocs in Europe and Asia. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) being negotiated by the Obama administration aims to bring into force a very different kind of Free Trade Agreements (FTA) in Asia-Pacific, which will bring on to the trade agenda a new set of norms and standards. The Chinese have been explicitly kept out of it by the Americans — in the hope that China will eventually have to come to terms with this trade agenda. Indeed, as the TPP negotiations near completion, the Chinese have informally conveyed to the U.S. their desire to get on board. As in climate change, a U.S.-China convergence on this issue will hurt Indian interests.

Then again, there are issues where the three countries’ interests seem closely aligned — and in opposition to the U.S. They have agreed to support a U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) resolution prohibiting intervention and “forced regime change”. This cuts against the idea of Responsibility to Protect (R2P), which was introduced by the western powers through the UNGA and sought to be built up as a norm governing interventions.

India’s relations with the great powers, then, are entering a period of unprecedented complexity. There are no pat solutions or simple trade-offs. And every move we make will be consequential.

(Srinath Raghavan is Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.)

INDIA’S FOREIGN POLICY by Ambassador Dinesh K Jain

@ IIT, Mandi 

Professor Timothy A Gonsalves,Director,

Dr. Aniruddha Chakraborty,

Distinguished Faculty Members,

Invited Guests,

Future engineering professionals andother students,

 

I amhonoured and delighted to be here, today, among you all. My compliments to youfor developing your IIT so rapidly, and in such a beautiful campus. Yesterday,to witness your Foundation Day, to be a part of it, was truly a privilege forme.

 

Until afew weeks ago, I was unaware that the newest IIT had since been established,here at Mandi. Then I discovered that it started its life at the IIT Roorkeecampus which mentored it. This invoked in me a feeling of kinship with you, forI am an alumnus of the University of Roorkee, precursor towhat lately became IIT Roorkee.

Ministryof External Affairs, Public Diplomacy Division, invited me initially, to visithere under its Distinguished Lecture Series, to speak on India’s ForeignPolicy. This suggests to me that I may well have the distinction of being thefirst to visit here in that role. I thank the Ministry for the opportunity, andthank you all for your warm hospitality and all kind courtesies.

 

I will tryto present before you the origins, evolution, contours, and current broad orientations of India’s foreign policy, and how we envision India in the world in the comingyears, allnecessarily encapsulated and tailored to meet the time available. You are mostwelcome to later address questions on any subjects and issues of India’s foreignpolicy, whether touched upon or not in my presentation. I would also be interested to hear your views and comments.

The beginning of foreign relations in humanaffairs, and the need for foreign policy to deal with them, is as old as theorganisation of human life in groups. Yet, foreign policy, to the uninitiated,might appear somewhat esoteric. In simple terms, it is a country’s policy,conceived, designed, and formulated, to safeguard and promote her nationalinterests, in her external milieu, in the conduct of relations with othercountries, bilaterally and multilaterally. It is a direct reflection of a country’s traditional valuesand overall national policies, her aspirations and self perception.

Its salience stems from thefact that what happens outside, the externalenvironment, has implications for the realisation of our national goals andobjectives. We therefore need to make the ever-changing external environment conduciveto our goals. But it is largely not in our control, and issubject to competition from other states. Cooperation is therefore an importantfactor, for it is not possible to secure one’s absolute goals; that would be atthe expense of all others, and therefore not tenable or sustainable. Thiscooperation can be anywhere on a full spectrum, from evolving certain minimalunderstanding, to working together, and up to building alliances. It alsofollows that foreign policy, too, cannot be static, but must necessarily bedynamic, evolving pragmatically, though always within certain guidingparameters of paramount salience.

 

The two principal foreign policy goals of national interest aresecurity and prosperity. While all would agree with this much, what the precisecontours of these goals are, and how to go about it, within the limitedresources available, is subject of a perennial national debate, oftencharacterized by much dissension as well, but eventually founded on a broadnational consensus.

 

Ina democratic polity, public policy-making results from the political and otherinteractions of governmental and non-governmental individuals and groups. Forforeign policy, three sources of input are of particular importance: the executiveincluding the bureaucracy, the legislature, and the independent public opinion includingthe media. The civil nuclear cooperation agreement with the US was a readyvivid example of very active and extensive involvement of all three.

 

Theessence of foreign policy is diplomatic negotiations and considerations, ratherthan legislation, and therefore foreign policy falls outside the area of directlinkage of responsibility with the electorate, and is formulated in the firstplace by the bureaucracy, implying in our context the Prime Minister and theCouncil of Ministers, especially the Minister of External Affairs, and theadministrative apparatus – that is Ministry of External Affairs,along with its outreach offices comprising embassies, consulates and others. The current Minister is ShriSalmanKhurshid, assisted by two Ministers ofState, Smt. Preneet Kaur and ShriE. Ahamed.The Foreign Secretary, currently Smt. Sujatha Singh, is the head of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and as such first among thefour Secretaries in the Ministry, who share at the helm all substantiveresponsibilities for the diplomatic conduct of India’s foreign policy.

Foreign policy transcends all various areas of interaction: political,strategic, economic and commercial, scientific and technological, cultural,consular, international law, and in today’s world ever newer subjects such ashuman rights, larger social issues, women, youth, the disabled, media andinformation, intellectual property, cyberspace, climate change, food, energy,health, transport, labour, migration, as well as disarmament, and fight againstmenaces like terrorism and drugs. As the globe continues to shrink, impelled byunrelenting technological advances and information implosion, the canvasinevitably grows ever bigger and wider.

Inmeeting the external challenges, diplomacy is the first line of defense, and force- by way of the military - the last resort. As such, diplomacy, and its concomitant,tact, are the major instrument for conducting foreign policy and promoting itsgoals, peacefully.

 

Canada’s former Prime Minister Lester Pearson put it, tongue in cheek, “diplomacyis letting someone else have your way”. Tact is also described as the artof making a point without making an enemy. Or as awit said, “a diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday butnever her age”. More seriously, dictionaries define diplomacy as the ability to deal with others in touchy situations without offendingthem. Foreign policy is a serious business, withlittle room for sentimentality; President John F Kennedy said, “Thepurpose of foreign policy is not to provide an outlet for our own sentiments ofhope or indignation; it is to shape real events in a real world.” 

 

In the Indian context, historically,Hanuman was possibly the first envoy when he was sent to Ravan’s Lanka. And LordKrishna the first veritable diplomat, for his extraordinary role in Mahabharata.Much later, in more authentic historical times, Chanakya gave India, and theworld perhaps, the first treatise on statecraft, foreign policy and diplomacy,by way of his Arthashastra. The ancient Indian and Chinesewritings are widely acknowledged as giving much thought for the management ofrelations between peoples and states.

 

We do not have much accounts of foreign policy trendsand practices in Indiain later years. Even the Great Moghuls were largely content ruling over Hindustan, with only limited initiatives from their sideto reach out beyond their reigns.

On the other hand, in medieval Europe, political philosophers like Machiavelli,Rousseau,and later Kant, Hegel, and Mill, underlined the need for rules to regulate the interaction among emergingsovereign nation states. In those times foreign relations were not supposed tobe for public consumption.

 

Foreign policy, as it is now understood, isa function of the Westphalian system of modern state, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, originatingfrom the Peace of Westphalia signed in 1648 in Europe, in which legitimate states were assumed to correspond to nations,that is, groups of people united by language and culture, and these nation-statesbecame the primary institutional agents in an inter-state system of relations. Internationalrelations became a public concern as well as an important field of study andresearch only consequent upon the two devastating World Wars. The Wars revealedto everyone the importance of international relations, but foreign policycontinued to remain under cover of secrecy.

 

Meanwhile, as the Westphalian system wasgaining wider currency globally, India was losing the attributes of sovereignty and her capacity for anindependent foreign policy. During the colonial period, imperial Britishinterests prevailed over Indian interestswhenthe Empire monopolised India’s external and defencerelations. So, while the Government of British India had a semi-autonomous Foreign and Political Departmentfrom 1834 onwards, its primary functions were to deal with the princely states,and to handle commercial and mercantile interests in the immediate neighborhoodof Indiaand the Gulf. It was, however, later, a founder member ofboth the League ofNations and the UnitedNations. 

 

Unwittingly,the absence of an indigenous foreign policy tradition allowed the Indian freedommovement to evolve its external perspectives without external baggage. JawaharlalNehru, later India’s first Prime Minister, and rightly acknowledged asthe architect of India’s foreign policy - whose essential parameters and guidingvalues have remained largely unaltered, already refused to choose between fascism and imperialism,and started saying what India’s foreign policy would be. From thelate 1920s on, he formulated theCongress stance on international issues, and the Congress party established a smallforeign department in 1925. As interim Prime Minister, Nehru, in 1946,articulated India'sapproach to the world, when heexpostulated: “Our general policy is to avoid entanglement in powerpolitics and not to join any group of powers as against any other group. We must befriends to both (blocs) and yet not join either.” This is when in the prevailing Cold War between two heavilyarmed and hostile camps, each rival superpower stared saying that if you werenot with them you were against them. It took courage and vision to retain thechoice to judge each issue on its merits and on how it affected ourenlightened self-interest, rather thanthat of an alliance. Having fought so hard for our freedom, we were not aboutto abdicate our independence of judgment to others. Incidentally,the term Non-Alignment was coined by V Krishna Menon in his speech at the UN in 1953; Nehrulater used it during his speech in 1954 in Colombo.

 

The primary purpose of independent India’s foreign policy was to help enable thedomestic transformation of Indiafrom a poor and backward society into one which could offer her people theirbasic needs and an opportunity to achieve their potential. Nehru delineated the role that foreign policycould play in achieving this, by striving to create an external environmentwhich would accelerate capital flows from abroad, increase the use of scienceand technology, help modernization of India’s infrastructure, ensure energysecurity, facilitate development and import of hydrocarbon resources, andimport of natural resources in which India was deficient.Today, too, India’s principal foreign policyobjectives remain a peaceful environment and strategic space and autonomy, so asto concentrate on our tasks of integration and nation building. This necessitates good relations withmajor powers and economies, and the neighbours.

 

Several factors -historical, civilisational, cultural - that are innate to our people’s genius,as well as current relevant ones like economic, technological, and demographic,lie behind our foreign policy consensus in shaping it. The quintessentialstrands of our foreign policy: peacefulco-existence, non-interference, peaceful resolution of disputes, non-alignment, anti-colonialism, anti-racism, multilateralism, pluralism,general and complete disarmament, opposition to all forms of terrorism,extremism and fundamentalism, pro-development, wider global cooperation in general, andSouth-South cooperation in particular, and so on, are moored inIndia’s civilisational beliefs in peace, tolerance, and One World. These have admirably stood the test of time. India, as an open, inclusive, and responsiblemember of the global community, believes that durable peace is only possible ina world in which all are equal stakeholders in prosperity, progress andhappiness. We also propoundedPanchasheela,the five principles of peaceful co-existence for international relations.

 

Yet,it was the end of the bipolar world in 1989, heralding dramatic changes in the internationallandscape, that opened up new significant opportunities for us, just as forothers. Nothing endures but change. Change is the process by which the future invadesour lives. The last twenty odd years have witnessed ahistoric and fundamental change in the nature of the world situation. Globalisation, growinginterdependence, and the emergence of transnational challenges have beenshaping the international relations like never before, with the repercussionsand consequences accentuated by the unprecedented connectivity. Most changesare evolutionary and essentially positive, but some of the positive forces ofglobalization, like evolution of technology and mobility of capital, have also,paradoxically, catalyzed and aggravated some of our major global threats, liketerrorism, extremism, and drugs crimes, environmental degradation, andproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including from non-state actors.Among other persisting dangers and pitfalls are poverty, trafficking, and cybercrimes.

Thechallenges have grown more complex and multi-dimensional. Being global innature, they defy isolated efforts, and require global solutions. Recent years bear witnessthat these cannot be handled effectively or properly by a single country,however mighty or resourceful or influential it might be. Besides the global economiccrisis of the recent years, the situations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, andSyria, the Iran and North Korea nuclear challenges, the natural calamities asin Japan, the phenomenon of terrorism epitomised by organisations like AlQaida, Talibans, and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the radicalisation of societies in thename of religion, and the long-drawn turmoils in the Middle East, all demonstratethis fact most emphatically.

 

Securityin today’s world is now indivisible, warranting a win-win approach rather thanseeking a zero-sum game. Theprocess has fomented global power redistribution, giving rise to major newplayers, and considerable diminution of the risks of direct conflicts amongmajor powers.

 

Equally, the pursuit of developmentand prosperity requires collective international effort. Today, and in theforeseeable future, the issues that will be crucial for example to India’s transformationare global, requiring global solutions. These issues of the future, such as concerning food, water, energy, rawmaterials, climate change, global trade, and international migration, and demands for fairglobalisation equitably benefitting all, are interlinked, cross-boundary issues. India isactively, urgently, and constructively engaged in addressing these, in closeconsultation and cooperation with the international community.

 

Thus the true realisation of ourforeign policy potential had to wait for the end of the Cold War in 1989, when inthe wake of our economic problems we also launched our reformpolicies, opening up our economy to the world. The demise of thebipolar world political system required India to reassess her foreignpolicy and adjust her foreign relations. The end of the Cold War had gutted thecore meaning of nonalignment, and the disintegration of the Soviet Unionremoved much of India'sinternational leverage. But the new circumstances were propitious for India to improve her relations with the United States, West Europe, and Japan, amongothers. The strength of capital and trade flows was directlybeneficial to emerging economies like India. This opened for us new opportunities, by increasingour strategic space, and our decision-making autonomy on issues of importanceto us, and thereby to advance our imperative foreign policy objectives.

 

We had arrived at a most favorablejuncture in our quest to develop India, with a remarkable change in the scale of our ambitions,and in our capacity to seek to achieve them. The ongoing UN reformsprocess, on the global agenda with Indian initiative, shows a clear greaterwillingness to give a place to Indiaon the global high table. On trade and economic issues, Indian objections areno more overlooked easily. On climate change related issues, we have been ableto build a broad support for our position. The developing countries follow ourlead and the developed countries seek our counsel and cooperation. In otherwords, Indiahas emerged as a major voice in global decision-making and management, and as abridge and balancing power in the emerging global strategic architecture. Inthat sense, the spirit and purpose of the non-alignment, the solidarity of thedeveloping countries of the South, and Nehru’s inspiring vision, are stillalive and an integral continuing part of our agenda. Our foreign policy anddiplomacy, to that extent, have yielded results in safeguarding and furtheringour national interests. Our diplomats live up to the expectations andconfidence reposed in them, and are widely recognized as among the most capableglobally.

 

Ourlongstanding commitment to disarmament, non-proliferation, and internationalsecurity is widely acknowledged. Time and again we reached out swiftly to ourneighbours, and to others in distress, such as to Maldivesin the Eighties, and after the Indian Oceantsunami of 2004. Indiachampions the interests of the countries of the South in forums like G-8, G-20,G-24, UN, IMF and World Bank, WTO, and at international conclaves like theclimate meets. Indiahas demonstrated her ability to contribute to peace and security in the regionand beyond, as also, conclusively, that substantive social and economicprogress is possible through true democratic governance.

TodayIndiahas formal diplomatic relations with most nations, besides being the world'ssecond most populous country, most-populous democracy, and ninth largesteconomy by nominal rates and fourth largest by purchasing power parity and oneof the fastest growing.Though Indiais not in any major military alliance, our relations with the major powers including withthe European Union, have acquired strategic depth and self-sustaining mutualityof interest.

 

Ourrelations with the USAtoday, predicated as much on mutual benefit as on its global significance, arein a phase of unprecedented improvement; leaders on both sides have describedthem as natural partners, and a defining relationship of the century. Yet,the challenges remain for better management of relations, given the differentgeo-strategic and economic contexts, and occasional differences of the perspectives.

Simultaneously,India’s foreign policy hasconserved its very close strategic relationship with Russia, further extending ourhistorical cooperation in defence, trade, information technology, diamonds,energy including nuclear energy, and science & technology. Our common fightagainst terrorism is a particular element of strength in it.

Normally theneighbours ought to be regarded as natural cooperation partners, but theunrelenting logic of geography and the innate difficulties borne of immediateproximity, simultaneously, often pose testing diplomatic challenges.Neighbourhood is also where domestic and foreign policies become interwoven,oftentimes inextricably so, and warrant cautious sensitivity. The truism thatone cannot choose one’s neighbours is all the more true for India, given thegeographical distinctiveness of the Sub-continent, and the shared ethnicities,cultural evolution, and historical experiences.

 

In our neighbourhood policy approach, India is a factor for stabilityand peace in the region, and our effort has been to construct an overarching visionfor South Asia, formulating policies directed at developing friendly andcooperative relations with all our neighbours, on the basis of sovereignequality and mutual respect, promoting inter-dependencewith them, creating stakes in each other’s stability, and developingcross-border infrastructure and other links and connectivity at all levels. We are cognizant of India’s greaterresponsibility in this process as the largest country in the region and itsstrongest economy. Our high economic growth impacts the region, offeringincreased opportunities to our neighbors to benefit by partnering India. Wecontinue to make unilateral gestures and extend economic and other concessions,as in the free markets that Indiahas established with Sri Lanka,Nepal and Bhutan. Similararrangements are also feasible with our other neighbours, as well as for Indianinvestments in building and upgrading cross-border infrastructure with each oneof them.

 

At the sametime, we do expect that our neighbours would demonstrate sensitivity to ourvital concerns, relating to use of their territories for cross-border terrorismand hostile activity against Indiafor example by insurgent and secessionist groups. As countries engage ineconomic cooperation, we must create a positive and constructive environment byavoiding hostile propaganda and intemperate statements.

 

Recent decades have witnessed particularlysignificant advances in regard of these, and, our diplomatic efforts to meet the challengesconfronting us have been largely successful. For example, we succeeded inexposing Pakistan’s nefarious designs, including sponsorship of terrorism, useof  terrorism as an instrument of statepolicy, trans-national crime and clandestine proliferation of nuclear weapons,technology, materials and missiles, and placed it all on the priority list of theglobal agenda. The Kargil War resulted in a major diplomatic victoryfor India, and several anti-India militant groups based in Pakistan were labeledas terroristgroups by the US and EU.

This, even as we want to solve all outstanding differences with Pakistan amicably and it is in that spirit thatwe hope to engage Pakistan.Given the complexities of the relationship, we have advocated a step-by-stepgraduated approach, even as we conveyed to Pakistan that credible andeffective action by them on our terrorism related concerns, including theinvestigations and trial in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, would be of the greatestsalience. Lately suggestions have emanated from across the border that there is a change in their thinking, but so long as importantelements in Pakistan'sestablishment and the Army regard India as their adversary, therelations between us can scarcely improve significantly.  Yet, we have to engage with Pakistanbecause only then we can eventually enlarge the rationally thinkingconstituency there. We have to believe that sooner or later good sense willprevail in the ruling classes of Pakistan, that instead of being adversariesour cooperation can become win-win, and that there are opportunities in workingtogether to realize our common destiny.

 

WithChinaproblems remain, but new convergences, such as on climate change and worldtrade negotiations, are blunting their propensity to cause us discomfiture. Our efforts to find a solution to the border problem havenot yielded the expected result, but we must continue to engage them in areas ofdifferences and outstanding issues. Continued rapid growthof the Indian economy is the best riposte to the rise of China. Our effort in recent years has been to develop amulti-faceted relationship with China,even as there will always be both competition and cooperation between us. There are discussionsin many quarters about China’srise and its enhanced assertiveness, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. Against the backdrop of the continued high growth of China's economyand capabilities in general, and military strength in particular, Chinese mediumand long term intentions remain a matter of speculation. Given the ascendancyof China, our relations withother countries in South and East Asia, like Japan,South Korea, Vietnam, and Australia, and greater cooperation andunderstanding with them, assume enhanced importance.

Bhutan is an importantneighbour with whom we have a multi-dimensional and integrated relationship,arising from our vital strategic interests. Over the years, our economiccooperation has been highly successful, most in development of Bhutan’s vast hydropower potential, with surpluspower exported to India.This is to our mutual benefit, and has translated into tremendous goodwill in Bhutan. Thedevelopment of road and rail network, as also a network of cross bordertransmission lines, all with Indian cooperation, enhance the accessibility of Bhutan, benefitingthe entire region.

India and Nepal, as close neighbours, share aunique relationship of friendship and cooperation, characterised by openborders and deep-rooted people-to-people contacts of kinship and culture. India has naturally extended support to thepeople of Nepal in theirpolitical transition to a democratic order, to a stable, peaceful and prosperousNepal.Nepal’s political system remains fragile and under strain, and this hastemporarily slowed down our traditionally strong bilateral relations, but Indiaremains fully prepared to assist Nepal in whatever way possible and wishes thepeople of Nepal well.

 

India-SriLanka relations have undergone a qualitative transformation and are marked by increasingIndian cooperation across all sectors. Our connectivity isat an all time high, and, to further consolidate our economic linkages, we havefinalised a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. India continues to support a negotiatedpolitical settlement to the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka based on a credible devolution package within theframework of an undivided Sri Lanka, and thus encourages an expeditiousnecessary reconciliation and re-integration process of its Tamil minority intothe country’s mainstream.

 

Ourlargest border is with Bangladesh. Theproximity and the porous border pose problems of insurgency, illegal migration,and others, aggravated by mutual misunderstandings and misplaced expectations,which are being successfully dealt with by promoting conditions of acceptanceof each others’ legitimate concerns, along with widening cooperation across thespectrum for mutual benefit. 

 

With Afghanistan,in our commitment to assisther in every possible way, India has provided extensive humanitarian,financial and project assistance, tothe tune of 1.5 billion dollar, responding to her own priority needs, for her reconstruction, and in building apluralistic and prosperous society, even as the security situation thereremains a concern to us. Indiaregards this as crucial for regional peace and stability and views herrelationship with Afghanistanas direct and bilateral.

 

WithMyanmar, neighbouring ouroccasionally troubled eastern region infested with sporadically violentinsurgency, a cooperative relationship is being steadily built around acommitment to stabilize the area, in economic projects, and creating multi-modaltransport links extending to Thailandand beyond. 

Relationsbetween India and Maldives remainclose and friendly. We supported their historical democratic transition, and assistMaldives in developing her infrastructure facilities in key areas like humanresource development, public health care, and tourism.

 

TheSouth Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for us represents India’s commitment to the region’s progress andsocio-economic development which can best be furthered through cooperation inwhich Indiaplays a pivotal role. In addition, we see the SAARC process of cooperation ascontributing to our goal of building a peaceful and prosperous periphery. Atthe 14th SAARC Summit that we hosted in 2007, India made every effort tostrengthen SAARC, moving it from a declaratory to an implementation phase.

 

OurLook-East policy has created new opportunities and partnerships in theAsia-Pacific. We have also strengthened our political and economic ties withimportant countries across the globe, such as South Korea, South Africa, Saudi Arabia,Mexico,and Brazil,as well as with ASEAN, the African Union, the Arab League,and the Organisation of American States. In addition, new important bonds are being evolvedand nourished, such as BRICS – with Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa, IBSA – with Brazil and South Africa, RIC- the trilateral initiative with Russia and China, the India-Africa Summit, andBIMSTEC - cooperation among Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand,Bhutan, and Nepal).Wehave launched special drives to strengthen trade, economic and technicalcooperation, with Africa and Latin America inparticular. The strategic importance of the Indian Ocean,lifeline for our trade, has been increasing. We now chair the Indian OceanRim-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC). This cooperation, both inthe economic context, and to contain growing threats such as piracy, is growingwell.

 

Overthe years, India’sdevelopment cooperation and partnership have evolved, from sporadic and ad hoc aidand technical cooperation, to now as an important component of our foreignpolicy. These programmes, providing Indian resources, expertise, andcooperation to other developing countries in a bid to help them develop faster,also win friends and generate goodwill for the country. Our partner countries appreciatethat India’scontribution emanates not from a state of affluence or surplus, is not drivenby any ulterior motives, and is not tied with conditionalities. Ministry ofExternal Affairs now has a full-fledged Development Partnership system andmechanism to coordinate and administer all such Indian cooperation, such as lines ofcredit, and technical cooperation under India Technical and Economic Cooperation(ITEC) by way of training, experts, study tours, projects, consultancy, and disasterrelief and humanitarian assistance, to some 160 countries around the world, allin a spirit of partnership, interdependence, and mutual benefit. Total Indiandevelopment cooperation currently measures up annually to well exceeding one billiondollar.

 

Amost notable Indian foreign policy success was the landmark agreement firstwith the US and subsequently with several other major countries enabling us toaccess nuclear power technology, materials and research, in waiver from the InternationalAtomic Energy Agency (IAEA), thus effectively ending the sanctions regime wewere operating under, and opening doors for also receiving sensitive and dual-usetechnologes and materials for peaceful applications. This is particularlyinstructive, for when in 1974 we tested a peaceful nuclear explosive device,the world, led by the nuclear weapon states, reacted by forming a nuclearcartel, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), and by cutting off nuclearcooperation with India unless we agreed to forego our nuclear programme and putall our nuclear facilities under international safeguards to guarantee thatcommitment. As the nuclear weapon states were not willing to do so themselves, andwe could not afford to brook consequent strategic insecurity, we refused to comply,suffering the consequences for our growth and development. In contrast, in thewake of our 1998 Pokharan-II nuclear tests, the world opinion, after itsinitial knee-jerk reaction, eventually, within a short period of ten years, cameabout to the NSG and IAEA deciding in September 2008 to permit internationalcivil nuclear cooperation with India,thus ending India’snuclear isolation.

 

Yet, India’s commitment to general andcomplete nuclear disarmament has remained as firm as ever. We have only refusedto be subjected to arbitrary discrimination starting with the 1968 NuclearNon-Proliferation Treaty and continuing with the 1996 Comprehensive Test BanTreaty. Arms limitation anddisarmament through proper multilateral negotiation has been central to India’s worldview, as also freely permitting peaceful uses of nuclear technologies. India continuesto stress for a cooperative thrust to reduce the salience of nuclear weapons. India is theonly country to commit to no-first-use.

 

Partlythanks to our initiatives and efforts, terrorism and proliferation of weaponsof mass destruction (WMDs) have been high on the global agenda. Internationalterrorism remains a major threat to peace and stability. The results, in theform of terrorism, clandestine nuclear proliferation, extremism and radicalismare felt not just by Indiabut by the world. The nexus between terrorism and weapons of mass destruction canbe frightening. Some of these countries not only have links withterrorism, but also avowed policies to change the status quo through force orresort to nuclear blackmail. These issues are of particular concern to India becausethe beehive, the epicentre of all these activities is right in ourneighbourhood. In the global war against terrorism, there can be no room fordouble standards, of distinction between terrorism that cannot be tolerated andterrorism requiring resolution of its root causes. Some progress has been madein strengthening global cooperation in the field of counter terrorism. 

Meanwhile,as I mentioned before, the global governance has remained inadequate,ineffective, and not far-sighted and visionary enough, not keeping pace withthe evolving contemporary realities. Although we love the idea of choice, we seekrefuge in the familiar and the comfortable. Though we have a global economy of sorts, theglobal polity does not represent the hopes, fears and aspirations of themajority of the world’s people. In an increasingly connected and inter-dependent world, the managementof the global diversity requires the application of principles of democracy,pluralism, inclusiveness, cooperation, and tolerance.

 

India, a founding member ofthe UN even before our Independence,has a steadfast commitment to the UN and its lofty objectives all along playing a most active andconstructive role in the UN system. India has been a regular andamong the largest contributors to the UN peacekeeping operations in hot-spotsaround the world. We firmly believe in the urgent need for the UN to bestrengthened, by greater transparency, equity, democratic representation in itsdecision-making; and for its most fundamental objectives to safeguard peace andsecurity, the UN Security Council must be expanded in both permanent andnon-permanent categories. Indiahas offered herself for a new added permanent member, on the basis of herindisputable credentials. This has already been publiclysupported by a very large number of member-countries of the UN, including USA, UK, France,and Russia, all permanent members, as well as Germany, Japan,and Brazil. 

 

Inour new emerging world, there are several new significant processespropelling the world towards greater multilateralism and a pluralistic world order. Since theexpansion of the UNSC is so difficult procedurally, the effect has beencreation of a number of other processes or structures more in tune with theday’s reality,accommodating new players who can contribute to solutions to tomorrow’sproblems. Just as the replacement of G-8 by G-20is a historic event in recognition of the tectonic shifts in global economicpower balance, its success should pave the way for a similar remodelling of theglobal political architecture, akin to a political P-20.

While themajor responsibility for the global warming and climate change phenomena,caused by accumulation of green house gasses in the atmosphere, lies with the advancedcountries, its adverse affects are felt most severely by developing countrieslike India.Any concept of ‘shared responsibility’ in this context must include ensuringtheir right to development. What we seek is equitable burden-sharing, includingaccess to clean technologies as global public goods by developing countries,and collaborative R&D and sharing of their results.

As many as 30 million people of Indianorigin, the Indian Diaspora, live and work abroad. They constitute an important link with the mother country. They make creditablecontributions to the countries that they live in, and also to India with theirresources and remittances - the largest in the world, entrepreneurship andtechnological skills, and goodwill.  Animportant role of India'sforeign policy has been to ensure their welfare and well being within theframework of the laws of their host countries. They are an important aspect of theresponsibility of our diplomatic missions. In times to come, India will bethe largest contributor to the world’s workforce, around 136 million peopleover the next ten years. We already issue over 5 million passports annually. Indianinvestments and business are today creating or protecting a significant numberof jobs in Europe and America.

 

Ladies & Gentlemen,

 

Letme bring my presentation to a prolonged pause. Mind it, I am not saying it isthe conclusion, for as the wit observed, a conclusion is simply the place wheresomeone got tired of thinking. One faces one’s future with one’s past. Life isthe art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises. There isunquestionable need to build a new consensus in wider international relations todeal with a variety of complex challenges. Multilateralism, democracy, andinclusive participation is the way to go about it. Tolerance, understanding andacceptance rather than conflict have to be its hallmarks. India willalways work to build an enabling order, in our neighbourhood, regionally and globally, based on equity, and in accord with emerging realities.

One of the hardest things to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn. We have been reasonably successful in this. The rapid expansion and qualitative change in India’s foreign policy perspectives that I have concisely mentioned are also a positive development for international peace and stability. As new trans-national challenges emerge, India,with her unique blend of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power, would be an indispensable player in strengthening peace, stability and prosperity in the region and indeed in the world.

I do hope you would find some useful food for your own thinking in what I had to say. I extend to you all my best wishes for a happy and fruitful time here at IIT Mandi, and great accomplishments in life.

 

Mandi

25 February 2014.