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| Indian
Foreign Policy & Citizen |
 Round Table Discussion
on "Indian Foreign Policy & Citizen"
by Mr. Shashank - Former Foreign Secretary, GOI; Lt. Gen. Satish
Nambiar(PVSM) (AVSM) (VrC) (Retd.), Director - The United Services
Institution of India; Mr. Charan Wadhva- Professor Emeritus, Centre
for Policy Research and Dr. Prabir De, Fellow - Research & Information
System for Developing Countries (RIS); in Espire, A 41, MCIE, Mathura
Road, New Delhi - 44.
7th MAY 08
HIGHLIGHTS
Orientation of Foreign Policy
 If
we look historically, the key players in foreign policies are
no longer the chancelleries or foreign offices in their secluded
magnificence, but the citizens, the global corporations, various
people's movements and so on. The whole scenario has changed.
Developing countries including India tend to look backwards for
some reason. This may be because of our cultural traditions and
family ties. But in a globalised world, we have to fix our gaze
on the present.
- Foreign policy is about connectivity. It is about connecting
us to our neighbors, distant friends and to events and developments
that will or are likely to affect us while it has the horizontal
or the geographical dimension, but the citizen aspect cannot be
lost sight of, which is, connecting the people of different countries
to each other. it is important for the youth to understand what
the role and dimensions of foreign policy are, what it can achieve
and how it is important to all of us.
-
Interestingly, in the last few years perhaps anniversaries have
something to do with it, it has been 60 years since India became
independent there has been a bit of a quiet revolution, some of
it noticed, some unnoticed, of bringing "people" back into foreign
policy.
- India is stronger, more confident, more ambitious and increasingly
globalised. It may be a target of outside pressures, but is no
longer a mere pawn or at the mercy of other powers. It is a significant
player on the global stage. Therein lie the challenges for India's
foreign policy.
Look East Policy
-
 The
Look East aspect is an important dimension of our foreign policy
but we have to match our concept with action, failing which we
may only add to the volume of rhetoric and books. We need to focus
on people to people connectivity between the people of our North
East and our East Asian neighbors. We should shed all our inhibitions,
especially as China has been very active in this regard. We do
need to address our security concerns but we should move forward
in every way possible to maximize our gains through this Look
East policy.
- The Look East policy has two dimensions to it. One is physical
connectivity, which brings tangible benefits to us and other neighbors
like trade, education and opportunities. The other aspect is bringing
countries of the Far East like Japan or South Korea into the ambit
of this Look East policy.
- Within this framework there has been realization from both sides
that trade, technology transfer, investments, services including
tourism and also monetary co-operation. There is realization from
the ASEAN countries themselves that the time has come to recognize
the power of India, much before we ourselves realized this. The
most important factor is this realization on ASEAN's part.
-
 Together
this reveals a picture of dynamism and the people of the region
want to participate in the economic activity and prosperity. They
need the support of the market forces and this is where the meaningful
policies come into the play. As a trillion dollar economy, India
cannot be ignored but the resurgence of the entire region means
that we need to pay more attention to the interaction between
the countries of the region, and engage more, especially as the
21st century is supposed to be Asia's century.
- The potential area we should not lose sight of is Buddhist
tourism. This is so dear to Southeast Asian neighbors. The potential
that exists here is enormous. Funding is also not a problem as
the central government is quite willing to provide the resources
for Buddhist tourism.
- The other area is of knowledge-based economies in which India
has acquired an edge. We need collaborative business-to-business
deals and joint ventures in any manner acceptable to our Southeast
Asian neighbours in IT, nanotechnology, biotechnology, agriculture,
food processing, higher education, joint R & D hubs etc.
Security Perspectives
-
 Notwithstanding
the challenges India faces internally, we need to be clear that
within the international setting at the commencement of the 21st
Century, given our size, geo-strategic location straddling the
Indian Ocean, the population of over a billion people, our undeniable
democratic credentials, the significant capability in information
technology, space research, a large reservoir of scientific talent,
management expertise and so on, proven military capability, and
the large market for consumer goods and services, the country
has a role to play both regionally and globally.
- There is a view that India is experiencing a couple of silent
revolutions. New elites are emerging from the most laudable phenomenon
of democratic politics over the years and the more recent one
of economic growth. They have new aspirations and energies; not
in itself a bad thing. However, there is also the simultaneous
phenomenon of the hitherto depressed classes seeking their rightful
'place in the sun'. Provided both these phenomena are managed
effectively without social upheaval and violence, India's movement
forward on the world stage would be unstoppable. Our security
policy needs to be based on three elements: facilitation of continued
economic growth; maintaining adequate defence capability making
optimum use of available resources and technology; and, development
of strategic and technological partnerships.
-
 To
deter and dissuade potential adversaries from undertaking any
adventures against the country, to be able to deal with internal
and external security threats should they emerge, to provide a
degree of reassurance to our friends and neighbours who look to
us for assistance, and to meet international responsibilities
that require the deployment and use of military forces, India
needs to maintain effective conventional defence forces and a
credible deterrent strategic capability. It would be useful for
us to try and work out such strategic security partnerships with
regional organisations like ASEAN, SCO, AU, GCC, etc.
- It is obvious that we cannot ignore any of the countries in
our neighbourhood, when we look east at ASEAN, across the ten
countries of South East Asia and beyond, we cannot ignore China
and Japan. Writing a book on India's foreign policy, a leading
Indian diplomat said that you couldn't ignore the essence of India.
- Unless and until there is a sea change in our relationship with
Pakistan which one hopes will happen the only sliver of connectivity
that we have with the outside world is through the East, through
the chicken's neck corridor and Myanmar and so forth. In the last
couple of years, the Chinese claims on Arunachal Pradesh have
been very aggressively put forward, to the extent of making noises
on our Prime Minister's visit to the state. Having friendly relations
with China, we must be clear that we have to treat them both as
a competitor and as a co-operative partner.
Social and Cultural Aspects
-
 The
Establishment whether it is the Ministry of External Affairs,
Defence or the Prime Minister's Office or Home, all have to work
in a much more integrated way. They and the media have to be on
the same side, at least as far as foreign policy is concerned.
We have to connect with journalists in this whole process of transforming
borders into crossings, connect with journalists in Bangladesh,
or Southeast Asia and other countries in the region.
- Let's start looking East, at Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar
and so on. We talk about our Navy going to Myanmar with relief
supplies for the flood victims, but we haven't used our media
like we did during the Tsunami. India projected itself during
the Tsunami when it helped the citizens of Sri Lanka, Thailand.
- There is a significant advantage that we presently have over
China. It is unbelievable and it is so only because India is now
perceived as a partner, a partner that countries of East Asia
have chosen, not one who is imposed on them. This is because of
our soft power advantages, because of our historical legacy and
because of the fear of China. India is beginning to count in Indonesia,
in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia in more ways than one
and this is the opportunity that we have to start activating the
Look East policy, not by just looking but actually seeing the
East with our own eyes.
-
 There
is a great strength that we have, the fact that we are a multi-religious
and plural country and this is very much part of the democratic
strength and that soft power that we talk about. It is time we
consider introducing another package of Islamic tourism along
with the Buddhist tourism we have had for some time.
Improving Connectivity
- The international road network between Indian and her eastern
neighbours including the hardware plus software should be improved,
which in turn, will reduce the international transportation costs.
Technical know-how should be offered by India and investment made
in improving the border infrastructure inside Bangladesh.
- It is impossible to ignore aviation in today's rapidly globalising
world, more so in a dynamic region like South East Asia. Eastern
South Asia is becoming more services-driven. The bilateral flow
of services is more balanced and higher than bilateral trade like
in health, education, tourism, etc. Services trade including FDI
are likely to escalate. Private airlines have been touching only
bigger cities (Delhi, Kolkata, Dhaka and Chittagong), but clearly,
this needs to change.
-
 Waterways
are the cheapest mode of moving passengers and goods in the remotest
parts of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Indian exports to Bangladesh
too, are mostly through inland water transport: coal, rice, white
cement, tires, steel coil and project goods. the need for developing
IWT facility between the two countries, which will ensure longer
IWT protocol, allow private operators and improving the infrastructure
(e.g. night navigation) is evident.
- It is essential to liberalise maritime services. By converting
the landlocked North Eastern region to a land-linked one through
Chittagong, communication could be eased to a great extent.
- If Indian railways could help develop the rail infrastructure
of Bangladesh then it will generate a huge goodwill among the
two nations. It will generate tremendous respect for India in
Bangladesh. These are the soft part which we talked of. Thus our
foreign policy needs to proactive rather then active.
-
 We
have also got to engender ways to mutually promote bilateral FDI;
open up bilateral services trade in education, health, tourism
and energy cooperation. Setting up SEZs / FTZs at the border areas
is something countries of the region should look at without too
much delay. The industrial zone in Lao PDR Vietnam border (at
Lao Bao in Vietnam) and the Gaeseong industrial complex in North
Korea are examples. We must encourage bilateral FDI by signing
BIPA and DTAA and check migration through employment at the border
regions. The modernization of land customs stations is another
imperative, as is the simplification of customs procedures. It
is not possible to conduct the business of foreign relations without
involving the State governments. Otherwise, there will be a complete
bottleneck in the work of the Ministry of External Affairs.
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