A person aged
62, born and lived in Pakistan, having witnessed India and Pakistan involved in
a mad race to accumulate the most lethal arms and attaining status of atomic
powers at the expense of extreme poverty, having fought three wars,
transformation of East Pakistan into Bangladesh and Kargil debacle is forced to
draw a few conclusions:-
1)
There is a growing perception, particularly in Pakistan that India is not a
secular country. Over the years its policies have been driven by 'hawks‘ who
have not accepted 1947 partition and are not willing to resolve Kashmir issue
on the premise "We will not accept another division of Hindustan on the basis
of religion",
2)
India has been accumulating arms from its friends (changing with the passage of
time) with the sole purpose of creation of its hegemony in the region,
3)
The US and former USSR supplies arm to India during the cold war era to enable
it to fight China,
4)
Even today India enjoys full support of the US, which prompted it to desert
Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline in exchange for nuclear technology,
5)
India continues to be one of the biggest buyers of Iranian oil and the US has
not imposed any sanctions on it,
6) And on top
of all the US is patronizing India in actively participating in the
construction of Chabahar port in Iran and road and rail network to link it to
Central Asian countries via Afghanistan.
Discussion
about the contours of Indian foreign policy under Narendra Modi is too
premature but one point is very clear that it is focused on creating Indian
hegemony in the region that now comprises of South Asia, Middle East and South
Africa (MENA). India is fully supported in this endeavor by the US having the
eye on oil rich Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan. The US
has replaced USSR (now symbolized by Russia) as the best friend of India,
particularly after the recent imposition of economic sanction on Russia. India
joined Chabahar port and allied infrastructure project on the encouragement of the
US to construct an alternative route that could undermine importance of
Pakistan.
Lately two ports, namely Gawadar and Chabahar, have emerged on Makran
coast that are located at a distance of about 70 kilometers. One is located in
Baluchistan province of Pakistan and other is situated in Sistan-Baluchistan
province of Iran. Both the ports have been constructed with the stated
objective of finding efficient and cost effective routes to energy-rich Central
Asian countries passing through Afghanistan. The point to be explored is that
both the ports have been constructed by two rivals, China and India, one an
accepted world super power and the other a self-proclaimed regional super
power. On almost every forum India tries to prove that Chinese involvement in Gwadar
is a threat for its (Indian) existence. It also pleads that Indian Ocean should
remain 'arms free‘.
However, navies of almost all the major powers are present
in the area to protect their maritime trade. It may not be wrong to say that in
the name of protecting their maritime trade certain countries have deployed
their submarines and aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean, which could become
a ground for proxy war. India has been over reacting about Chinese assistance
extended in the construction of Gwadar port in Baluchistan province of
Pakistan. It has been creating the hype that Chinese presence in Gwadar is not
only a serious threat for India but would also give China extra leverage in the
region. India also accuses that China has acquired management control of Gwadar
to use the facility as its naval base. This mantra is aimed at seeking support
of United States and Russia, who consider China a major threat to their
hegemony in the region.My words can be
ignored on the premise of being a Pakistani but Indians and rest of the world
must read a few lines from an article published in the journal of Foreign
Affairs published in 2013 and titled ―India‘s Feeble Foreign Policy.
It says Indian policies are focused
on resisting its own rise, as if political drift had turned the country into
its own worst enemy. It also says that India — home to more than a sixth of the
human race — punches far below its weight, internationally, it is a rule-taker,
not a rule-maker. I have also read somewhere, Since the Berlin Wall fell 25
years ago; the world has witnessed the most profound technological, economic
and geopolitical change in the most compressed time frame in the history.
Unfortunately for India, despite its impressive economic growth overall, much
of its last 25 year has been characterized by political weakness and drift.
In another article it has been
written that the result of the prolonged leadership crisis has been a sharp
erosion in India‘s regional and extra-regional clout. The gap in power and
stature between China and India has widened significantly. After all, this was
the quarter-century in which China took off. More troubling has been India‘s
shrinking space in its own strategic backyard. Even tiny Maldives had the gall
to kick India in the chin and get away with it. It kicked out its Indian
airport operator from the capital Male and publicly dressed down the Indian
Ambassador without fear of consequences. In Nepal, India found itself competing
with China. And in Sri Lanka, India became content to play second fiddle to
China.
Domestic Indian media
is trying to create a perception that Modi faces major regional challenges due
to failing states around India. The media demands that this tyranny of
geography demands India to evolve more dynamic and innovative approaches to
diplomacy and national defense. It is also being said that the political rise
of Modi — known for his decisiveness — could be a potential game changer as he
is focusing on revitalizing the country‘s economic and military might. Modi is
being praised for wining over the US support by shaking off US visa-denial
humiliation heaped on him over nine years. It is also boasted that the US conducts
more military exercises with India than with any other country. And in recent
years, the US has quietly overtaken Russia as the largest arms supplier to
India. Whatever Indian media try to portray, Modi‘s actions talks louder that
include his moves to engineer stronger partnerships with Japan and Israel
(countries critical to Indian interests but which also courted him even as the
US targeted him) to his mortars-for-bullet response to Pakistani ceasefire
violations.
Modi has earned lots of praises for his act at the
opening of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit
coinciding with the anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks. He extended a
cold shoulder to his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, who had taken all the
time to attend Modi‘s oath taking ceremony, despite opposition by many
Pakistanis. As a staunch believer that India is no longer a secular country,
being ruled by hawks, I read these lines with exception. Modi faces major
regional challenges, exemplified by the arc of failing, revanchist or scofflaw
states around India. This tyranny of geography demands that India evolve more
dynamic and innovative approaches to diplomacy and national defense. India must
actively involve itself regionally to retrieve the lost ground in its backyard.
SAARC is likely to remain a stunted
organization because India being the largest country in terms of population and
both economic military might is often alleged for intervening into the affairs
of feebler neighbors. According to the stated objectives of Modi‘s foreign
policy, he wants to develop stronger bilateral linkages with other neighbors by
focusing on ―Look East
policy. Indian policy makers believe that there is little choice as west is
troubled. They believe that the entire belt to Indian west from Pakistan to
Syria suffers from instability and extremism. Modi‘s supporters say that his
foreign policy is aimed at promoting India as a more competitive, confident and
secure country aimed at gaining its rightful place in the world. However, his
critics have a contrary view as they believe that India can sustain itself only
on the foundation of a strong domestic policy. His war mania and indulgence in
arms race can eat up the benefits of those responding to his invitation to make
India an ‗economic might‘.
To conclude, please allow me to say that Indian
foreign policy is greatly influenced by the US foreign policy. A closer look at
the ongoing crises in various countries clearly indicate that first the US
facilitates creation of rebel groups, supply them funds and arms to fight with
the regime and then unilaterally take action against the same rebel groups. A
person with average wit fails to understand the motive but the reality is that
these crises are created to keep the US arsenal factories operating at full
capacity. It may sound too big an allegation but India is following the same
policy of supporting rebel groups in the neighboring countries to further them,
the sole objective is to prove that it is a regional as well as world super
power and others should remain subservient to its grand plan.
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