Round The World

New Delhi, 29 January 2008

Engaging China, UK And France

INDIA JOINS WORLD BIG BOYS CLUB

By Dr. Chintamani Mahapatra

School of International Studies, JNU

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 21^st 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

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