India in Today’s World

This book by former ambassador Rajiv Sikri is a highly creditable enterprise to narrate a global picture of Indian foreign policy, past, present and future. While he chooses to call his effort ‘a modest contribution’, it is hard to think of a precedent when such an effort was made on such a scale. In this forensic tour d’horizon, special attention is properly given to India’s neigbourhood – six chapters out of 10 which deal with specific geographical regions.

While works on international relations are invariably obsolete by the date of publication – and this applies to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and others in this book, Sikri’s exegetic background of India’s relations with various regions, including its South Asian neighbours, is admirable and his conclusion that ‘it is not enough for India to consider itself the natural leader of South Asia. It is equally important that other South Asian countries accept it,’ is uncontestable. His view on a new paradigm closely approaches the now rarely invoked Gujral Doctrine, which remains the neglected solution; that India should sensitize neighbours to its security concerns in return for special and priority consideration.

Sikri properly points to river waters being the likely source of greater conflicts with Indian neighbours, and his warning that sensitivity to Indian interests might not outlast Hasina’s rule is prophetic, as his forecast that the Sri Lanka establishment has lost the support of youth. Nepal is ‘a formidable challenge to Indian diplomacy’ since ‘an open border works successfully only when the countries have shared security perspectives.’  Anti-Indianism is too often the foundation of parochial nationalism; ‘South Asia’s tragedy is that its people have been artificially divided on the basis of ethnicity, caste and religion… it is not easy to uproot or disown a cultural inheritance going back many centuries.’

On West Asia, a proper reference is made to the ‘Jewish lobby’ both in India and USA, giving synergy to the triangular US-India-Israel relationship. It might have been worth adding that the inherent right of Palestinians to rise against Israeli occupation which has for decades blocked the adoption of a UN Convention on Terrorism.

Some of Sikri’s assessments and conclusions are debatable, but his review of economic and commercial considerations in a multilateral context for India is both useful and insightful. In a masterful summary of India-US ties, he is right that the USA was ‘unwilling to accept India’s desire and right to pursue an independent foreign policy,’ and points out that ‘a military relationship follows, not precedes, a convergence of strategic interests.’ American PL 480 assistance was in fact as much to help US farmers as to aid India. However, some propositions are not pursued to their logical conclusion; given that unilateral sanctions by US and the West are of doubtful legitimacy in international law, and inflict collateral damage on innocents, but should the ‘Global South’ not be united against them, led by India?

On Europe, Sikri concludes that ‘Europeans do not individually or collectively significantly alter India’s core political and security interests,’ and aptly notes that rather than heavyweights France and Germany, Eastern European Poland and the Baltic states are setting the EU agenda. But he is misled in believing that Europe’s approach to China has been ‘purely mercantilist.’ Regarding Russia, Sikri opines that ‘it is highly unlikely that in its dealings with China, Russia will sacrifice its interests with India,’ and he details the nature of Indo-Russian commerce. In Central Asia, he believes that India has been ‘unable to optimally convert the traditional goodwill into contemporary influence’ due to the absence of transportation links and connectivity.

Sikri agrees that ‘predications are fraught with uncertainty’ but is on firm terrain when he outlines India’s priorities as ‘its military, economic, energy and environmental security,’ and that the ’China factor’ is likely to be ‘the dominant one’ in shaping India’s policy towards Southeast and East Asia, where he foresees a ‘prolonged and tense confrontation.’ China is considered only in unflattering and even extreme terms like ‘predatory’ and ‘boorish’, yet it is nowhere dispassionately examined as to why Chinese financial and other interventions are so warmly welcomed in large areas of the world, including in India’s near-abroad. His endorsement of Japan as ‘more activist and less pacifist’ would hardly appeal to countries that suffered Japan’s appalling brutalities in the Asia-Pacific in the previous century.

No one can disagree that the utility of the Commonwealth, G-77 and NAM is over, but the G-20 and BIMSTEC are greatly over-estimated, and the addition of the AU’s rotating presidency to the G-20 will hardly prove value added. However, Sikri’s prescription for a new government agency to handle Indian technical assistance programmes is welcome and needs to be activated.

The term ‘strategic’ and ‘strategic partnership’ is abundantly used, but without sufficient clarity on what these terms imply, considering they have lost all meaning through ubiquity. Meaningful definition also eludes ‘Indo-Pacific’, ‘Global South’ and ‘Quad’.  Soft and smart power remain unexamined realities. Latin America is nowhere considered and Africa is given two paragraphs in the text.

Some limitations inherent in a detailed canvas as vast as this one emerge. It is hard to avoid personal inclinations, but continuously crediting the present government while critiquing past ones for omissions and commissions is noticeable. The author has every right to his opinions, but in making his preferences clear, casts reasonable doubt on his assessments. Modi’s name is invariably prefixed with the designation ‘prime minister’, a deference inappropriate in a sober work of analysis and history.

It is unclear which is the intended audience for this book. It is not for the professional diplomat familiar with the background, and too detailed for the general casual layperson, but an invaluable resource for the graduate and post-graduate student, think-tank members and corporate executives involved in specific area operations. On a prosaic level, the production values of the book are generally good but the want of an Index and a table of acronyms is sorely missed. Indian publishers seem unaware of the essentiality of these tools.

Having said that, this book is written in a succinct style with pleasing phrases far above the norm for international affairs, and the argument is customarily well presented in considerable detail. This well serves a country destined to be ‘an increasingly influential international player’ though its promotion of democracy abroad would be more impactful if it shed the reputation for massive corruption at home. Normally this type of survey would be a compilation of specialist authors. That Sikri is the sole author is exceptionally admirable and his opening and closing chapters on today’s world and the way forward merit close attention.

diplomacyIndia-BangladeshIndia-China relationsIndia-Nepal relationsIndia-Sri LankaIndian foreign policySouth East AsiaWeb Exclusive