India’s Foreign Policy – Amb Lalit Mansingh

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Event Report

The event was organized by NIICE, Nepal inviting the notable speakers and experts in the area. Ambassador Lalit Mansingh sir has served as India’s foreign secretary, Ambassador to the United States and high commissioner to the United Kingdom. He has also been ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and high commissioner in Nigeria and various other countries. Ambassador Mansingh sir is active in a number of international initiatives for conflict resolution, regional security and sustainable development as a member of an international group of elder statesmen, constituted by the Brookings Stanford at New York University worked on a project entitled managing global insecurity that resulted in a publication power and responsibility in 2009. Ambassador one Singh is also part of track two dialogues between India and its neighbours including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, in India, he is the President for Strategic Initiatives, Vice President Indian Council for cultural relations, professor emeritus of the Foreign Service Institute at India at New Delhi and the global envoy for international good response configuration New Delhi.

Key points discussed by the speakers are: Pandit Nehru established the basic architecture centered around the principle of non-alignment; India was just coming out of the trauma partition, during which 17 million people were displaced. And one and a half million people were killed; The foreign policy of India responded to India’s national interests in the context of the Cold War, and the emergence of two rival international camps led by Washington; And Moscow, when utterly at verge by became the Prime Minister, geopolitics has changed has changed dramatically. In the preceding five decades since Nehru, the world had become bipolar. But the US the hegemonic was showing signs of fatigue; Still today, the policy of non-alignment has relevance. Watch by moved away from the idealism of Nehru and fashion a new foreign policy, which I would call qualified realism.

Coming to the current foreign policy of India: In the past 20 years, so, the world is reverting to multipolarity with China growing gaining strength at the cost of the United States. For two decades, according to Jaishankar, China has been winning without fighting and US has been fighting without winning. The emerging global order is complex with many dimensions, hence, the world will witness more multipolarity with less Multipolarism, there will be an inevitable decline of global bodies, like the UN and its associate in institutions. Major countries will be more nationalistic in their approach, thereby weakening multilateral rules. The world is reverting to a balance of power, not collective security. According to Jaishankar, hereafter, we will see more a proliferation of “frenemies”, that is countries that will be both friends and enemies at the same time. Thus, they will be all returned to bipolarity. New partners and new powers arising in the world. Half of the 20 largest economies in the world today are non-western. There is going to be more result-oriented cooperation, not Institutional Cooperation. The benign globalization that facilitated the rise of China has come to an end. The corona crisis is the most consequential global event.

Indian foreign policy, turning more sharper towards realism, which is why according to speaker caption for foreign policy today is hyper realism. Because there are major areas where existing foreign policy has not been effective. There are that there are needs, there is a need to change direction. And so Jaishankar has commented and speaker even quote, “a nation that has aspirations to become a leading power cannot continue with unsettled borders and unintegrated region and an under and under exploited opportunities”.

So, another important factor here in change of direction in India, is that, according to Prime Minister Modi economic growth has to become a priority and it has become a priority in foreign policy. Jaishankar endorses this by saying that the economy drives diplomacy, not the other way around.

So, Indian diplomacy, according to the Foreign Minister, will now be more nimble and less dogmatic. It will have several balls in the air. It will when required. Pursue contrary approaches.

Be reconciling of Howdy Modi, Mahabalipuram and Vladivostok. What if what you refer to was Modi’s three summit meetings within a short timeframe with President Trump, President Putin and President Xi Jinping. Others might see this as a contradiction. But that is essentially what Indian foreign policy is aiming to achieve on the priorities for Indian Foreign Policy.

Speaker mentions Jaishankar works and writing and he quote, this is time for us to engage America, cultivate Europe, reassure Russia bring Japan into play, draw neighbours in extend the neighbourhood and expand traditional constituencies of support and the quotation according to speaker is pretty good summary of India’s current foreign policy objectives.

During the five decades of the Cold War, the US was more of an adversary than a friend. Because India’s non alignment was unacceptable to Washington. By the 90s human rights issues, especially in Punjab and Kashmir, and India’s nuclear program came under American attack. In the next two decades, however, there has been a dramatic change in Indo US relations between 2002-2005 and eight, the erstwhile adversaries, concluded a civilian nuclear deal, a Defence Cooperation Agreement, and a Strategic Partnership Agreement. This has further been elevated to a comprehensive global strategic partnership. President President Obama famously declared that Indo US friendship was the defining partnership or the 21st century. And so that policy has continued with his successor, President Trump.

Pakistan is yesterday’s threat, today and in future that threat to India is China. Now why so? Speaker points out the reason: We have 4000 kilometres of disputed border with China. And there have been negotiations in the past 70 years, over 50 rounds of official discussions, including 22 meetings at the level of the National Security Adviser. And the result is zero. India sees this as a security threat for itself and for the countries in the region. And other sorts for India is China’s currency aligns with Pakistan and has been kept well supplied with military nuclear and missile technology from Pakistan. And with China and with Chinese troops, Master along the LSE in Ladakh, at two front war is beginning to look possible. China has been active in working against India’s international interests from opposing India’s permanent membership of the Security Council.

Russia is no longer the superpower that the Soviet Union used to be. Its domestic politics are unstable. Its economy is in deep recession.

And yet, Russia is a global player and poses a serious military threat to the US and the West, in Eastern Europe, West Asia and Central Asia. But Russia nonetheless remains a close strategic partner with a dominant presence turns into very important sectors Defence and Energy.

Speaker says the surgical attack was the important conjunction in Indo-Pak relations. And this approach was India made from defensive led country to offensive capable India.

Speaker takes out the reason for changing position of India’s foreign policy: Sense of rising nationalism due to its dark past; Feeling of suppressed colonial past; Anti-India sentiment in neighbouring country. Speakers even spoke on the countries near to the border of India and threw out some statistical fact on our diverse relations in every sector since independence.

Prepared by Om Ranjan, Intern at NIICE, Nepal