Round The World
New Delhi,
8 June 2018
PM’s ASEAN Tour
COUNTER-WORKING CHINA?
By Dr D.K Giri
(Prof. of International Politics, JMI)
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi undertook a visit to three important Members States of ASEAN last
week. It was his maiden visit to Indonesia, second to Malaysia and third to
Singapore in his premiership. The trip, especially, to Indonesia was designed
to circumvent China in Indo-Pacific region. Was it? If so, what diplomatic
dividends did we achieve?
Modi started off by
invoking the millennia-old civilisational, societal and cultural ties that bind
India and Indonesia together. He said: “not only do the names of our two
countries rhyme, but also there is a distinct rhythm in India-Indonesia
friendship ...We have similar culture, cuisine and folklore”.
Not many would be
aware that Indonesia’s first President Sukarno called India’s first Prime
Minister Nehru, his ‘political father’. Both the countries were fighting for
independence from colonial rule around the same time. India was seen by
Indonesia as a great friend. One incident forgotten by media during PM Modi’s
trip is the heroic work done by Odiya leader late Biju Patnaik during
Indonesia’s fight against Dutch colonialism.
In 1947, the Dutch
attempted to quell Indonesia’s struggle for independence and took control over
air and sea routes. Sukarno wanted his Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir to attend
the Inter-Asia conference organised by Nehru. Since all routes were under Dutch
control, Sukarno sought Nehru’s help who turned to buccaneering fighter pilot
Biju Patnaik to rescue Sjahrir. Patnaik landed in Java in his swashbuckling
style evading the firing by the Dutch, airlifted Sjahrir as well as Sukarno in
a Dakota, a military transport air-carrier, and brought him to India via
Singapore.
Patnaik was honoured
with the highest civilian award given to a foreigner, Bhoomiputra, (son of the
soil) as Indonesia achieved independence, and on its 50th
anniversary, in 1996, he was conferred with the highest national award ‘Bintang
Jasa Utama’. It is believed that Patnaik named Sukarno’s daughter Megawati (Goddess
of clouds) Sukarnoputri.
Culturally, the
Odiyas celebrate till date ‘Bali Yatra’ (Bali festival), a traditional ceremony
to commemorate the voyages of Indian sailors to the Indonesian island. Even as
the largest Muslim majority country, Indonesia uses plenty of Indian epics like
Mahabharata as symbols of their culture. Their national aircraft is named
Garuda, they have Arjuna’s vijay (victory) chariot kept as a museum piece. The
Hindus, two per cent of Indonesia’s population constitute 94 per cent in Bali. Geographically,
two largest democracies in Asia are less than 100 miles apart between the
Southern-most tip of India and Northern-most tip of Indonesia.
Arguably, with so
much cultural affinity, historical friendship and socio-economic similarities, the
two countries should be close to each other. But regional and global politics
have not made it happen so far. Indonesia has been out of India’s strategic
calculus. Attempts are being made to reverse the trend. President Joko Widodo’s
Maritime Fulcrum Policy (MFP) matches with India’s Act East Policy and SAGAR
(Security and Growth for all in the Region) enunciated by Modi two years ago in
Mauritius. Jakarta doesn’t wish to remain low-key in maritime strategic
architecture of the Indo-Pacific region and wants to retain independent control
over its strategic interest in the face of expanding Chinese influence through
OBOR.
Both countries signed
as many as 15 Agreements to enhance political and economic cooperation, mainly
strategic and defence ties between two maritime neighbours. These covered defence,
exploration and use of outer space, health, railways and capacity building of
public officials. It was decided to expand air routes; Garuda will fly from
Bali to Bombay direct from April 2018; Batik Air and Air Asia will connect to
different cities of India; Modi offered 30-day free visa for Indonesian
tourists and invited Indian-Indonesians to visit Kumbh Mela next year. It was
agreed to increase investment up to $50 billion by 2025, having expressed
satisfaction over 22.34% increases from $12.9 billion in 2016 to $18.13 billion
in 2017.
Both Prime Ministers
condemned terrorism and vowed to fight it jointly. Modi addressed the CEO’s in
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce which signed an agreement with Confederation of
Indian Industries (CII), which will soon open its office in Jakarta. It was
agreed to build links between Andaman Nicobar Islands and Aceh in Indonesia to
tap the economic potential.
However, of most
significance to India was the access of Sabang port promised by Indonesia.
Sabang is a crucial strategic location, in northern tip of Sumatra, at the
mouth of Malacca straits. Indonesian Minister of Maritime Affairs had promised
this on his visit to India days before Modi flew to Indonesia. India is poised
to develop Sabang port with the distance between it and Nicobar Islands being 350
miles. Sabang will enhance India’s maritime presence in the region as it
becomes a part of Malacca strait patrol comprising India, Malaysia, Singapore,
Indonesia and Thailand.
All in all, New Delhi
and Jakarta should come closer than ever as both are mindful of China’s
overarching presence in the region, and Beijing being a cartographic aggressor.
Besides, Indonesia and China are adversarial in Natuna Islands. Modi
complimented the democracy and diversity characterising both the countries. He also
visited the grand Istiqlal Mosque, the second biggest Sunni Mosque in the
world, accommodating 120,000 worshippers, despite incurring criticism of
international appeasement of Muslims during Ramzan. To complete the multi-culturality
of Indonesia, he also visited Buddhist and Hindu shrines
Modi’s next step was
Malaysia, his second, to congratulate new Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad,
sworn in on 10 May after a stunning victory of the Alliance over Barisan
Nasional Coalition which had ruled Malaysia since 1957. Malaysia, he said, is a
strategic partner and a priority country in India’s Act East Policy. For
Malaysia, India is the largest trading partner with $15.44 billion in 2017. The
goodwill visit also aimed at boosting economic and cultural relations.
Modi was in Singapore
for two days primarily to deliver the Shangri-La lecture at the annual security
summit organised by London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies,
supported by Singapore government. This was the first time an Indian Prime
Minister was attending the conference. The lecture elucidated Modi government’s
world view especially the Act East. He spoke at length about India-China
relations and said the whole world is looking at the rising East as it holds
the promise for the 21st century. He met the visiting US Defence
Secretary on the sidelines.
India and Singapore
signed eight Agreements covering fintech, skill development, urban planning,
artificial intelligence, smart cities, and infrastructure development. Modi had
extensive talks with his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong and affirmed that Singapore
was the springboard for India for ASEAN. He complimented 25 years of
India-Singapore bilateral maritime exercise.
Apparently as Modi’s
Singapore visit was a mix of work and leisure, he visited India’s heritage
centre, the Chulia Mosque, Mariamman temple, Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, Changi
Naval base and the Botanical Garden, part of which, got named after him. It all
sounds good. But, let us end with a telling humorous comment made by the
legendary Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to a business delegation to
India, “Folks! Remember to buy two return tickets as Indians do not know how to
conclude the business talks.” Has the perception changed with Modi at the helm?
It is doubtable.---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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