India as a Pole in Multipolar World : Daily Current Affairs

Date: 24/11/2022

Relevance: GS-2: India Foreign Policy; Bilateral, regional and global grouping and agreements involving India or affecting India’s interests.

Key Phrases: Russia-Ukraine War, Multipolar World, Indo-Pacific, Geopolitical Agency, Strategic importance,Geopolitical Contestations, New World Order, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), G20, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Classical View of Polarity, South Asian Regional Subsystem, Balancing Behaviour, 1971 India-Soviet Treaty, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Multilateral Reforms.

Context:

Recently, India has assumed the chair of the G20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), so a reflection on the topic “India as pole’’ has become important.

Why does India prefer being a pole?

India doesn’t support either side:
- When great powers seek India’s support during geopolitical contestations, such as the one over Ukraine, they end up facing a stubborn India that is reluctant to toe the line.
India is not a satellite state:
- The inherent reason behind Indian reluctance, however, is not stubbornness but a sense of self which views itself as a pole in the international system, and not as a satellite state or a camp follower.
India projects the multipolar world order:
- New Delhi’s constant exhortations of a multipolar world are also very much in tune with this thinking about itself as a pole in a multipolar world.
India has a different position than the two poles:
- India refuses to take sides because it views itself as a side whose interests are not accounted for by other camps or poles.

Panchsheel Principle

The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence are principles first mentioned in the Sino-Indian Agreement, 1954 and publicly formulated by Zhou Enlai.
These principles would later become the basis of the Non-Aligned Movement.
The Panchsheel Agreement was signed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Premier Zhou Enlai.
These principles, also known as Panchsheel, are listed as
- Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty,
- Mutual non-aggression,
- Mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs,
- Equality and cooperation for mutual benefit, and
- Peaceful co-existence

India’s Historical Perspective of being Non-aligned:

India as a different civilization:
- The origins of this thought can be found in the character of the country’s long struggle for independence-
  - The pre- and post-Independence articulations of leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhiji, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak among others on international politics.
  - The (not uncontested) primacy India inherited as the legatee state of the British empire in South Asia.
  - India’s larger-than-life civilizational sense of self.
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Experiment:
- NAM has contributed to India’s desire for a unique foreign policy identity and a voice in the comity of nations. For much of its modern independent history, India’s foreign policy has been a unique experiment.
- Historically, India’s view of itself as a pole is evident in the manner in which it used to pursue non-alignment for several decades after Independence. Some vestiges of this continue to inform India’s foreign policy to this day.
Misconception between Non-alignment and Neutrality:
- It is also important to point out that India’s non-alignment is often misunderstood given that a number of foreign commentators and practitioners interpret it as neutrality.
- For India, however, non-alignment is not neutrality, but the ability to take a position on a given issue on a case-by-case basis.

India as a Different Pole in International Affairs:

No domination in the South Asian Region
- India has a different view of itself as a pole.
- It has not actively sought to dominate the South Asian regional subsystem even when it could.
No preference for an alliance like NATO:
- Its balancing behaviour has been subpar, it has refused to build alliances in the classical sense of the term, or sought camp followers or allegiances.
- As a matter of fact, even its occasional balancing behavior (for instance, the 1971 India-Soviet Treaty during the Bangladesh war) was contingent on emergencies.
Doesn’t allow interference in south Asia:
- It discourages interference by other powers in that space.
India supports Global South:
- India often tends to speak for ‘underprivileged collectives’, physical (South Asia) or otherwise (NAM, developing nations, global south, etc. in varying degrees); and it welcomes the rule of law and regional order.

Way Forward:

Multilateralism should be India’s preferred mode of engagement with other countries.
Western powers must treat India as a partner rather than as a cheerleader.
- They should mainstream India into global institutions such as the UNSC, and consult India rather than dictate to India which side to take.
India should prefer positions that not just suit its interests but are also informed by its sense of being a unique player on the global stage.