India's Foreign Policy

Representative image only

Introduction

You would have already guessed what this blog is about. Yes, it is about India's Foreign Policy. 

India is an emerging power and has the potential to become a superpower. Every country needs good allies to become a super power. India has a huge diplomatic outreach primarily due to its Diaspora. It has always taken a neutral stand during the cold war. India was heading the non aligned movement. Even though India was neutral, it was more dependent on the Soviet Union than the United States. Some of India's economic practices during the cold war era also resembled the policies of Soviet Government. India was very dependent on Soviet Union during the cold war era even though it was neutral.  

India's Diplomatic Missions 

India's diplomatic and foreign policy is handled by (MEA) Ministry of External Affairs. 

Diplomatic missions of India

India has diplomatic relations with almost all countries in the world. India has 152 embassies around the world. Indian embassies in other Commonwealth nations are known as High commissions. 

India has closed down its embassies in some countries due to security reasons. In Somalia when the civil war broke out, India had to close its embassy in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia.

 India and Taiwan are one of the leading democracies in Asia. India has a representative office in Taiwan. It does not have proper diplomatic relations with Taiwan because India didn't want to upset its powerful neighbour, the People's Republic of China (PRC) by recognizing its rival Republic of China (ROC). Taiwan and India are countries which share a common interest,  that is to keep in check PRC'S unwarranted interference in Asia that is upsetting the balance of power in the region.   

Commonwealth Nations

Ministry of External Affairs

The ministry of External Affairs is lead by Subhramanyam Jaishankar who is an experienced diplomat and has held positions like Indian ambassador to USA, China, Czech Republic and Singapore. 

India's Look East Policy

The primary aim of this policy is to strengthen India's relationship with its South Eastern neighbours. 

This is also useful for India to extend its influence eastwards to become a strong country in Asia. India also needs strategic partners who will stand and support India in case of war with its rivals like Pakistan and China. India has strong diplomatic ties with China's rival nations like Japan, Vietnam and Australia in the east.

Strategic Partners

India's growing economy, strategic location, mix of friendly and diplomatic foreign policy and large and vibrant diaspora has won it more allies than enemies. The country has friendly relations with several countries of the developing world. Though India is not a part of any major military alliance, it has close strategic and military relationship with most of the fellow major powers. Countries considered India's closest include the Russian Federation, Israel, Afghanistan, France, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and the United States. Russia is the largest supplier of military equipment to India, followed by Israel and France. According to political analysts, Israel is set to overtake Russia as India's largest military and strategic partner. The two countries also collaborate extensively in the sphere of counter-terrorism and space technology. India also enjoys strong military relations with several other countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, South Africa and Italy. In addition, India operates an airbase in Tajikistan, signed a landmark defence deal with Qatar in 2008, and has also leased out Assumption Island from Seychelles to build a naval base in 2015.

US's relationship with India has improved a lot since Indian Intelligence agencies gave information to the US about the Al Qaeda's activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. India and US has conducted many  military exercises in the recent years. India, US and Israel are three countries heavily involved in the war on terror. 

 India has been pushing for reforms in the UN and WTO with mixed results. India's candidature for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council is currently backed by several countries including France, Russia, the United Kingdom,Germany, Japan, Brazil, USA, Australia and UAE. In 2004, the United States signed an agreement with India even though the latter is not a part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The US argued that India's strong nuclear non-proliferation record made it an exception, however this has not persuaded other Nuclear Suppliers Group members to sign similar deals with India. During a state visit to India in November 2010, US president Barack Obama announced US support for India's bid for permanent membership to UN Security Council as well as India's entry to Nuclear Suppliers Group, Wassenaar Arrangement, Australia Group and Missile Technology Control Regime. As of January 2018, India has become member of Wassenaar Arrangement, Australia Group and Missile Technology Control Regime. India has shared its economic interests with other developing economies like Mexico and Vietnam. Vietnam and India have very strong military ties and they both have shared interests. Vietnam even offered India land to make a military base and a port. 

BRICS 

From Left Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi, Dilma Rousseff, Xi Jimping and Jacob Zuma.

BRICS is the acronym coined for the emerging economies of India, China, Russia, Brazil and South Africa. It was actually BRIC before the entry of South Africa in 2010 after formal invitation from China. BRICS countries focus more on economic cooperation than Military cooperation. BRICS are also famous for its bank called New Devolopment bank which aims tor infrastructure development in its member nations. One of its objective is to reduce its members' reliance on the World Bank. 

India's Relations with Pakistan

Pakistan and India have a very bad diplomatic history. One can say that they are die hard enemies. Pakistan and India surely have reasons for this never ending conflict, that is Kashmir. Both the countries want to control Kashmir, as it is a very important and strategic location. If India loses Kashmir, then there is no geographical barrier between the populated region of India and the terror stricken conflicted parts of Kashmir. This will cause serious security concerns for India. India must ensure that Kashmir remains part of India. India cannot afford a Pakistan controlled Kashmir. This explains why India is not willing to involve other countries and international organisations to mediate in the conflict. India fears that they will support Pakistan and India will have to cede Kashmir to Pakistan. India had already lost a large piece of eastern Ladakh to China during the Sino-Indian war of 1962. Kashmir is the main bone of content in the Pakistan India conflict. 

India Pakistan border 

India's Relations with China (PRC)

India was one of the first countries to recognize PRC. In India we grew up hearing that China and Pakistan are enemies of India. China is not exactly a hostile country. India and China are heavily dependent on each other economically. India also shares a lot of land boundary with China. India and China have fought a war in the past. They also have indulged in several skirmishes and clashes due to their border disputes. India and China are very dependent on each other in trade. They are also economic competitors in Africa. 

India's Relations with Russia

India's strategic relationship with Russia started when Russia supported India in the Indo-Pakistan war. Even during the Sino-Indian War, USSR supported India by providing advanced Mig fighters. India and Russia have a very strong and special relationship. Russia is one of the three best friends of India. India and Russia also have a bilateral trade worth $30 Billion. 

Mig 25 Fighter 

 Russia is the largest supplier of arms to India. They have cooperated politically, economically, militarily and also in space research. Russia has helped and supported India in all the wars. Russia also supports India for its ambition to enter the UNSC United Nations Security Council. Russia still supports India in space as many of the spacecraft parts are imported from Russia. India also has good trade relations with Russia. India and Russia have many plans to increase bilateral trade. India is building a port in Iran called Chabhar which will give India access to Central Asia and Russia which will increase the bilateral trade between India, Russia and Central Asia and Iran. This project is called North-South Corridor (NSC). This will in turn strengthen the friendship between India, Iran and Russia

The trade route for NSC

India's relations with Israel 

India and Israel started their special relationship during the 90s when US sanctions on India prevented India from buying weapons from US private defence companies. Russia also could not cater to India's demands as the Russian defence industries were suffering from economic effects due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. This forced India to look for new arms suppliers like Israel. Israel is one of the world's largest arms producer. India saw this opportunity and developed formal diplomatic relations with Israel. Israel is India's second largest arms provider. India uses many Israeli military equipment like guns, attack helicopters, Quadcopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) like drones. Israeli Arms Industries - a government owned company has supplied India with many advanced defence equipment. Leaders from both sides have visited each other. The countries also have many defence agreements and extensive cooperation in the space sector. India has launched many satellites for Israel. India is also Israel's third largest trading partner in Asia after China and Turkey. Israel and India share interests in counter terrorism. RAW and Mossad share intelligence and maintain good relations. 

India's Relations with France

Dassault Rafale

India and France share a very special relationship when it comes to trade and defence. India and France have participated in many military exercises. France is also one of the largest suppliers of military equipment to India. India has bought many advanced defence equipment from France like the Rafale aircrafts and Mirage 2000. Indian companies are also major clients of the Air Bus. France and India also have numerous space agreements. India is also a huge destination for French Foreign Investment. They also share interests in counter terrorism. 

Conclusion 

India is an emerging power and a regional power. It is capable of becoming a super power. India has more allies than enemies. India should resolve its border disputes diplomatically instead of increasing its military power and participating in a geopolitical rivalry with its rivals. 

By Rodger Bloor (Gurunithyan)