Date: 08/10/2022

Relevance: GS-2: India and its neighborhood- relations; bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Key Phrases: Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), India’s foreign policy, Role of various multilateral organisations, QUAD, I2U2, RCEP, Central Asia cooperation, SCO, ASEAN

Context:

• There has been a progressive evolution in Indian thinking on forming and joining regional economic and security groupings since its “Non-Aligned” days in the 1950s.

Evolving India’s foreign policy

• India being a founder of NAM initially was committed to tenets of NAM but contradictions in NAM stood exposed in 1971.
• The world witnessed the emergence of a US, China, Pakistan grouping to “contain” the Soviet Union during the Bangladesh conflict in 1971.
• India then joined the Soviet Union after signing a ‘Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation’ with Russia during the 1971 war which led to the birth of Bangladesh.
• The disintegration of the Soviet Union in the 1990s led to new groupings and alliances but today India is in a position where it has partners, in different ways, with all major global power centres.
• Economics and economic integration play a far more central role as bridges of cooperation today and India is pursuing that actively.

The rationale behind the QUAD

• Over the years India has got closer to like minded countries such as the US and Japan far more than in the past because the world order is becoming more China-centric.
• The emergence of an increasingly strong China, willing to display and use its military power freely, and even assert its maritime land boundary claims against virtually all its neighbors is a concern
• Russia is forced by American hostility to make common cause with China.
• It is not wise to unilaterally take directly adversarial positions against any one major power in present times and channels of communication have to be kept open for dialogue with all.

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue(QUAD)

• It is the grouping of four democratic countries –India, Australia, the United States, and Japan.
• The idea of Quad was first mooted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007.
• In 2017 the idea materialized when India, Australia, the US, and Japan, came together and formed this “quadrilateral” coalition.

How is QUAD faring?

• The QUAD on which discussions were halted by then China-centric Australian Prime Minister has come a long way.
• The conduct of foreign policy invariably enjoys a national consensus in India.
• While the QUAD has done well in promoting maritime and military cooperation across the Indian Ocean and the Asia-Pacific.
• The QUAD has underperformed on promoting economic cooperation
  • A recent proposal to rapidly promote production of Covid vaccines in India was undermined by the failure of negotiations with the US vaccine company, Johnson and Johnson.

Balancing growing Chinese power across the Indo-Pacific

• While India has a free trade agreement (FTA) with ASEAN but has chosen not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), containing 15 East Asian and Pacific nations.
• For India it makes far more sense to negotiate trade agreements with the US and the EU.
  • Chinese trade practices have led to an annual trade deficit of $72.9 billion.
• India has joined a 13-member Indo-Pacific Economic Framework Agreement, put together recently by the US.
• India’s present “Look East” policies also include increasing maritime/military cooperation across its land and maritime frontiers.

The SCO and central Asian cooperation

• The recent Summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) provided an opportunity for India to supplement its “Look East Policies,” by promoting closer economic cooperation with its western neighborhood through Iran.
• It facilitated India’s use of the Chahbahar Port in Iran which is crucial for establishing a reliable line of communications for India’s trade and economic cooperation with the entire Central Asia region.
• Russia’s cooperation is also essential as it plays a crucial role in the erstwhile Soviet republics.
• While oil purchases from Iran are hampered by existing US sanctions, it is in India’s long-term interests to encourage the process of ending nuclear sanctions on Iran.
• Conflicts in the Central Asian region on religious lines (eg. Armenia-Azerbaijan ) have provided India opportunities to substantial supplies of arms and other materials.

Substantive and integrated approach is the way ahead

• Indian foreign policy is seeing the evolution of a substantive and integrated approach to promote its political and economic interests across its western neighbourhood.
• The most notable decision taken in recent days was after the first summit meeting of the recently established I2U2 grouping, comprising India, Israel, the US and the UAE
• It is the first time when India and the US partnered two West Asian countries to focus cooperation on use of water resources, food security, health, transportation and space.
• Securing food supplies is a concern because of recent developments involving the blocking of vital sea-routes for supplies of wheat to countries across Africa and West Asia.

Conclusion

• It is the evolving and multifaceted Indian foreign policy that the recent I2U2 conference was accompanied by a decision to develop integrated food parks across India, coupled with Israeli technology for optimum use of water resources.
• No one would have envisaged a situation a decade ago where India receives UAE finances and Israeli technology, geared to US involvement, for stepping up agricultural production for its western neighbours, this is the testimony of India’s ingenious foreign policy.

Source: The Hindu BL

Mains Question:

Q.India is reaching out across regions to secure its interests, with a focus on its western neighborhood, Discuss. Also write on strategic challenges prevailing in the immediate western neighborhood of India and suggest possible solutions. (250 words).