India’s fate is tied to the rest of the world(The Hindu, International relations)

16 Aug India’s fate is tied to the rest of the world(The Hindu, International relations)

Context:- India’s fate has been closely tied to the rest of the world not only after independence but from ancient times. A newly independent,large, impoverished, and impossibly diverse country required active engagement for its survival, security, and development. But the international environment is constantly evolving and presents India not just with opportunities but numerous challenges.
An overview of problems:-

• India has many troubles that may seem plenty:-

• • • It ranges from COVID­19 pandemic and its adverse effects on economic growth prospects to intensifying competition with China and turmoil in Afghanistan.

• But India has some measures to tackle:-

• • it is by some measures the sixth-largest economy in the world
  • Boasts a well trained and professional military
  • India has a growing network of international strategic and economic partners.

The long and winding road:-

• India adopted a foreign and security posture even before August 15, 1947.
• India initially received the bulk of development and military assistance from the West
• The Soviet Union extended support from the mid ­1950s onwards.
• India also played an activist role in the decolonizing world, extending diplomatic and (in some cases) security assistance to independence movements from Asia to Africa, and India also sent military missions to Korea and the Congo.
• There were also important economic achievements which included the Green Revolution, undertaken with considerable foreign technical and financial assistance.
• The Indo-­Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation and the Bangladesh war altered India’s relations with both superpowers and changed the relations and the rivalry with Pakistan.
• This period also saw security challenges
  • These are ranging from the peaceful nuclear explosion, the annexation of Sikkim, competition with Pakistan over Siachen, a stand­off with China, an intervention in Sri Lanka to a countercoup in the Maldives.

After the Cold War:-

• • The 1991 Gulf war outcome was a crisis in the balance of payments and this crisis was turned into an opportunity by the liberalization of the economy.
  • The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi along with the 1993 Mumbai bombings, and the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir gave new security challenges.
  • Much things was done by P.V. Narasimha Rao:
    • The advent of the Look East Policy
    • India has sought to maintain close relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
    • The establishment of diplomatic ties with Israel
    • India has signed a border peace and tranquility agreement with China.
    • Initial military contracts with the U.S., and preparations for nuclear tests.

• The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government:-

• • • India conducted a series of tests in 1998 further negotiating a return to normal relations with most major powers within two years at the same time concluding an important set of agreements with China in 2003.
    • Efforts Were made at normalizing ties with Pakistan were frustrated by the Kargil war, the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC­814 to Kandahar (Afghanistan), and the 2001 attack on India’s Parliament.
    • During these years a rapid growth also witnessed in the Indian economy.
    • A boom in information and communication technology companies coupled with the services sector, and a rising consumer market has reached a continuum high.

• After 2004, the Manmohan Singh government:-

• • • We have worked to resolve the question of India’s nuclear status.
    • India has eliminated barriers to ‘dual use’ technologies and equipment and acted as a host of associated export controls
    • India established robust defence relations with the U.S. and its allies during this time and India also drifted to the same.
    • The global financial crisis during 2008­-09 has pressed india to have  a slight change in approach, whereby India sought to partner with China and other rising powers on institutional reform, financial lending, climate change, and sovereignty.

• From 2013:-

• • • China began to test India on the border by asserting its claims through millatry.
    • China at the same time began to undermine Indian interests in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region.
    •  late 2014
      • A more competitive India-China relationship emerged.
      • There were Standoffs at Doklam and Ladakh between 2017 and 2021
      • India has opted to boycott China’s Belt And Road Initiative, raise barriers to Chinese investment, ban some Chinese technology and at the same time consult more closely with other balancing powers in the Indo Pacific.
    • India has given a greater emphasis on neighbourhood connectivity.

• An international India:-

• • India’s objectives have been broadly consistent:
    • Development, regional security
    • A balance of power in india ocean region as well as around the world.
    • India’s means to achieve its aim and the international landscape have completely changed so the domestic political factors.
      • India had different approaches to international engagement between 1947 and 1962, between 1971 and 1991, and between 1991 and 2008 which can be clearly seen in the above paragraph.

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Swarn Singh

Plutus IAS Current Affair Team Member