Changing Dynamics of India’s Foreign Policy

PWOnlyIAS December 12, 2023 05:40 1069 0

Changing Dynamics of India's Foreign Policy: India has moved away from some of its legacy foreign policies, ushering in a new era of global cooperation.

Questionnaire

What are the Recent Changes in India’s Foreign Policies?
How is India Moving Away from Non-Aligned towards Multi-alignment?
How is India initiating a Pakistan-free Regional Grouping?
How is India executing the Act East Policy?
Why is India Focusing on Africa?
How is India Strengthening Ties with the Western World?
How is India Collaborating with Non-Western Multilateral Groupings?
How is India Strengthening Ties with the Arab World?
How is India Collaborating with Indian Ocean Countries?
What are the Major Changes Visible in terms of India’s Foreign Policy?
What are the Reasons for India’s Changing Foreign Policy?
What are the Challenges for India’s Foreign Policy?

Context: India has moved away from some of its legacy foreign policies, ushering in a new era of global cooperation.

What are the Recent Changes in India’s Foreign Policy?

Focus of Policy: The focus of India’s foreign policy is addressing the bigger picture, looking at India’s role on the international stage.
Innovative Methods: India has employed various innovative methods as part of its foreign policy. This includes leveraging its soft power and also engaging with the diaspora.
Long-time Interests: India keeps its long-term interests in sight while initiating a policy. This prevents extreme actions by the government.
Benefitting the Citizens: The engagement with countries must not just benefit the country, but it must also benefit their citizens.

How is India Moving Away from Non-Aligned towards Multi-alignment?

The Beginning: During the peak of the cold war, India invested heavily in the policy of non-alignment by participating in the Non-Alignment Movement.
The NAM: The Non-Alignment Movement was the coming together of countries, who did not want to align themselves with the superpowers of that time, namely the US and the Soviet Union.
Failure: The movement began to fade away after the collapse of the socialist bloc. Once neutral countries started to move towards power centres.
Recent Updates: Post the collapse of the Non-Alignment Movement, India has been following a policy of Multi-alignment by collaborating in the fields of security, economic equity, and the elimination of threats like terrorism.

India's Foreign Policy

How is India initiating a Pakistan-free Regional Grouping?

Previous Focus: SAARC, which has been acting as the major forum for regional cooperation in South Asia, has been hampered by a lack of coordination.
Effect: The presence of Pakistan has paralyzed its functioning. In order to bypass Pakistan, India has promoted BIMSTEC as an alternative for regional cooperation.
New Initiative: BIMSTEC not only brings together non-Pakistani partners of SAARC, but also South-East Asian partners such as Myanmar and Thailand.

How is India executing the Act East Policy?

Objective: The Act East policy seeks to strengthen India’s economic and strategic ties with countries in Southeast Asia and East Asia.
Streams: The policy works in the fields of connectivity, trade, culture, defence, and people-to-people-contact at all engagement levels.
Examples of India’s actions include engagement with ASEAN, development of infrastructure, supply of aid, providing defence equipment, etc.

Why is India Focusing on Africa?

Importance: India has acknowledged that Africa is central to its plan of creating an alliance of like-minded countries.
Common Grounds: Due to their shared colonial history, India and Africa have many things in common. In addition, Africa is host to a variety of natural resources, which can potentially be a game-changer.
Actions: To defeat China, India needs to ensure Africa does not become extensively dependent on China. Realizing this importance, India enabled the joining of the African Union in the G20.
- India is one the largest contributors to UN Peacekeeping Operations in Africa. India also extends grants and aid for the development of African Nations.

How is India Strengthening Ties with the Western World?

Growth of ties: India’s ties with the Western bloc have been strengthening over the years, beginning with the Civil Nuclear Deal with the USA.
- India is now a member of QUAD, a security grouping involving India, the USA, Japan, and Australia. The group has the common objective of countering China’s hegemony in the Indo-Pacific.

How is India Collaborating with Non-Western Multilateral Groupings?

Non-western Groupings: India may not enjoy the best of the relations with China, but it has not stopped itself from collaborating with it in multilateral platforms.
BRICS: India is a member of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), which is an economic, political, and security cooperation between leading emerging economies.
SCO: India is also a member of the Eurasian forum known as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which has a mandate to maintain peace, security, and stability in the region.
INSTC: India has been a member of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which offers a platform for India to collaborate with Russia, Iran, and the Central Asian Republics towards fostering a Eurasian Free Trade Area.

How is India Strengthening Ties with the Arab World?

Scope: The Middle East and the Arab world are host to one of the largest Indian expatriate communities, including professionals and entrepreneurs. Despite such an opportunity, India’s ties with the Middle East were subtle at the most due to support for Israel.
- However, there has been a major change in the ties with the Arab world, especially UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman, and Iraq.
Balancing Ties: India has been able to balance its ties with the Arab world without having to compromise its support for Israel.
For example, India will be collaborating on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC).
- In addition, India and UAE have signed a Free Trade Agreement.

How is India Collaborating with Indian Ocean Countries?

The IORA: Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) has been promoted by India to strengthen the ties with Member States whose shores are washed by the Indian Ocean waters.
Objective: The association seeks to bring together government representatives, academia, and business leaders for interaction between member countries.

What are the Major Changes Visible in terms of India’s Foreign Policy?

Engagement with Indian Diaspora: India has increased its engagement with the global Indian diaspora, seeking to make use of their experience and reach to influence outcomes.
Leveraging Soft Power: India’s soft power has been leveraged extensively to increase its influence. This includes Indian food, Indian music, Indian movies, and Yoga.
Voice of the Global South: India has positioned itself as the voice of the global South by raising issues that matter to underdeveloped and developing countries.
Responsible Climate Actions: India is the only country from the G20 group to have been in line to achieve all its climate goals, as provided in the Paris Agreement.
Aid-based Support: India has been the first to respond when it comes to providing aid against disaster. This was visible during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the Turkey Earthquake.
Neutral Position: India has always taken a neutral unbiased position when it comes to geopolitical issues. This has showcased the ability of Indian diplomats to traverse tricky situations.
Personal Rapport with Head of State: The Indian Prime Minister enjoys a personal rapport with other heads of state. This has helped build confidence between countries.

What are the Reasons for India’s Changing Foreign Policy?

Rise of China: China has quickly established itself as a serious global player by expanding its footprint through projects such as BRI.
Changing Geopolitics: Global geopolitics is fast changing. China is emerging as a serious competitor to the US. Along with Russia, China is creating a formidable Eastern bloc to challenge the Western bloc.
Sovereign Rights: India has been more concerned about its sovereign rights in recent times, compared to previous years. This has necessitated foreign policy changes.
The Ukraine War: The Ukraine war has been termed a watershed moment in global politics as it brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.
COVID-19: Following the pandemic, there has been a negative sentiment against China and its policies. This has brought together countries sharing similar sentiments.
Political Stability: Since 2014, India has enjoyed political stability at the domestic level. This has enabled it to make strong policy decisions without compromise.

What are the Challenges for India’s Foreign Policy?

Bipolar World: The world is fast turning bipolar from multipolar. There may come a time when India will be compelled to choose its partner.
Managing Relations with China: China’s muscular expansionism is causing troubles for India in the Himalayas. Even though India seeks to have normal relations with China, the security challenges cannot warrant a soft approach.
Pakistan Factor: India’s ties with Pakistan are at their lowest. This is due to the absence of communication channels between the leaderships of the two countries. Without a proper channel of communication, the relationship will remain to be affected.
Relevance in Global Politics: India wants a seat at the UNSC as a permanent member. Without such a position, India cannot remain relevant in global politics.
Regional Influence: India’s regional influence must not fade away, only to be replaced by China. The backdoor entry by China will jeopardize India’s interests in the region.

Conclusion:

India’s foreign policy has been dynamic, allowing it to handle watershed moments in geopolitics such as the Ukraine War. The challenges to India’s foreign policy are only going to amplify as a showdown between the Western bloc and the Eastern bloc is on the cards.

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