Round The
World
New Delhi, 1 November
2019
New Delhi Ups The Game
IMPELS INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES
By Dr D.K. Giri
(Prof. International Politics, JMI)
India experiences a
week of hectic diplomacy and international activism. New Delhi ups its game to
reaffirm its international position and promote the national interest. Modi’s
admirers, and there are a great many, would say in chorus that India is
vigorously promoting its national interest and claim its global role. The
critics would have a contrarian opinion. Our objective is to objectively
reflect on the events of the week.
At least three major
events are taking place which engage India and evaluate her diplomacy. Twenty
seven members of European Parliament are on a study-visit to Kashmir, Modi is
on a-day-visit to Saudi Arabia, and the third, Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of
Germany, the strongest economy of Europe landed yesterday for a-day-long visit
today (1st November). These three engagements are driven by different
objectives, yet, they test New Delhi’s diplomatic acumen as well as resilience.
Obviously, the visit
by the Members of European Parliament is the most sensitive one in view of the
world attention Kashmir draws, especially when Pakistan tries persistently to
internationalise the issue. Pakistan is fully aware that it cannot snatch
Kashmir from India by a war. New Delhi refuses to entertain any dialogue
process as per the Shimla Agreement between the two countries signed in July
1972 until Pakistan stops sponsoring cross-border terrorism. Thus, the
stalemate continues.
In the meantime, New
Delhi abolished Article 370 that kept the State of J&K separate from the
rest of the country by conferring it some special status. Pakistan backed by
China raised it in the international fora, namely the United Nations, that the
action by India amounted to injustice and even oppression of Kashmiris. New
Delhi holds that it is an internal issue of India, and no country, let alone
Pakistan, should have any opinion on it. However, post-abrogation of 370, two
other countries Malaysia and Turkey criticised New Delhi’s action in the last
UNGA. Modi government has reacted strongly to Turkey’s criticism. We covered
that retaliation last week in this column.
Against this
backdrop, the visit of 27 law-makers from European Parliament that has
representation from 27 member countries bears considerable significance. This
is the first foreign delegation after the D-Day, the 5th of August,
the day, Parliament nullified Article 370.
There is quite a
controversy around the high-powered delegation to Kashmir. One British MEP has
protested that his name was dropped as he put a small rider to the scheduled
programme i.e. he wanted to talk to the locals about how they feel after this
drastic step was taken by the Union government. Remember, Britain itself is in
throes of a political-diplomatic crisis on its withdrawal from the European
Union. So, British MEPs protestation may not bite much.
The critics of Modi
regime suggest that the delegation is stage-managed, by a social entrepreneur
supportive of the government. Also, the MEPs are of a particular ideological
shade, the right-wing conservative or neo-liberal. They are largely supportive
of the government’s position. Such a perspective may sound cynical. If leaders
from abroad support the defanging of Article 370 as internal governance matter
of India, we should welcome it. Some of us have endorsed the action of the
government while being critical of the manner it was done and the post-370
developments. A new governor has just been appointed, and one hopes that things
return to normal sooner than later. What is of critical interest of the
country, is what the visiting delegation remarks at the end of their programme.
The Home Minister had
claimed that ‘not a bullet was fired’ in the valley since 5th
August. One could say the ‘peace’ that followed the taking-over of the valley
by the Union government accrued from total control of the people and
institutions. But, that is also shattered, as bombs have exploded, and people
killed. The best way to silence any international criticism is to improve the
situation in Kashmir.
The second event is
the a-day-long visit of Prime Minister Modi to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The
NSA Ajit Doval was rushed to Saudi as it had expressed unhappiness over the
situation in Kashmir, perhaps for the sake of some solidarity with their Sunni
brethren in Pakistan. At the same time, Saudi Arabia is an important ally of
USA in the Middle East. Ajit Doval seemed to have cooled the Saudi tempers.
However, the current
visit by the Prime Minister is for trade and investment, backed by a strategic
partnership. India and Saudi Arabia signed up for a Strategic Partnership
Council (SPC) to monitor trade and energy. This is a significant move towards
deepening the bilateral ties. The SPC will have two mechanisms – one led by the
foreign ministers of both countries to cover political and diplomatic ties, and
the other under the commerce ministers for trade and energy relations. Modi
urged the rich Saudi Kingdom and the companies to invest in India. He promised
to create favourable investment climate as India aims to become a $5 trillion
economy.
The third important event
is the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the ‘Iron lady’ of German
politics. Despite huge problems of migrants in her own country, and the
economic upheavals in the European Union, she survives in leadership of Germany
as well as EU. But, what are our expectations and learnings from Germany? In
the renewable energy sector, Germany is the world leader. Are we building our
own RE infrastructure, reducing our crippling dependence on eh fossil fuel,
although India is the convener, International Solar Alliance and so on.
To be sure, Germany
is an economic power. New Delhi tends to mix-up or mismatch diplomacy and
economy. With Germany, we should talk trade, technology and investment. And, if
we can persuade Germany for appropriate technological collaboration, while
assuring them the market, we would have drawn huge advantage. Talking terrorism
and Kashmir in passing may be a good idea, but these should not dominate the
agenda with Germans.
All in all, a busy
week of diplomacy and international relations. The axiomatic truth of any
successful foreign policy is having strong and credible domestic determinants
or national capabilities. For now, it is our economy, political stability and a
healthy society based on harmony, and nationhood. If Modi missed this link, we
would have once again missed the bus. – INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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