India's Foreign Policy : News, Views and Discussion

A new, fractured global order is upon us. India’s response must evolve accordingly
As political ideologies fail to provide purpose and meaning to individuals, they are increasingly finding refuge in identity and religion. The thin line separating church and state is collapsing rapidly.

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The international community will stumble into the third decade of this century amidst much uncertainty and anxiety about the future. There is a sense that the gains of the past century are being undone, that grievances — real or perceived — are being manipulated by “strongmen leaders” who have gained currency across the world, and that subsequent generations are likely to be worse off than their ancestors. Many blame our current predicament on these leaders, who are seen to have undermined the norms and institutions that their predecessors were instrumental in establishing. Yet these populist figures are not drivers of change; they reflect it.

How did we get here? It is increasingly clear to communities and countries that the distribution of agency in the international system is inequitable and no longer reflects contemporary realities. It is this anger and disappointment, directed against globalisation, that has powered the rise of these strongmen and women.

While the project of economic integration has successfully reduced inequality among countries, its domestic consequences were given insufficient consideration by those evangelising the old global economic order. Should exclusionary economics and the rise of nationalism really surprise us when 10 per cent of the global population controls 84 per cent of its wealth? As the fourth industrial revolution continues to accelerate the demise of manufacturing and implicate organised labour, a deep sense of economic insecurity is fuelling perverse socio-political developments around the world.

While the project of economic integration has successfully reduced inequality among countries, its domestic consequences were given insufficient consideration by those evangelising the old global economic order

The affected individual has found an ally in digital technologies. Ordinary people now possess a loud megaphone to communicate with each other and with the state, sometimes supporting the establishment, and often undermining it. From the Arab Spring at the turn of the past decade to the ongoing protests in Hong Kong, digital technologies have erased the asymmetry between the voice of those in power and those governed. This understanding of digital technologies is now being reassessed as well. The very tools that allow communities to mobilise are fast becoming instruments to subdue and control them. Today’s technologies, defined by ubiquitous surveillance and algorithmic decision making, are concentrating wealth and power into the few hands capable of designing and deploying them. The coming decade will inevitably witness a new tussle between agency and control.

Taken together, the anxieties around technology, globalisation and representation have left democracies around the world struggling to contain discord and discontent. Once characterised by the rule of elite institutions arranged around a set of established principles, democracy’s immediate future is being recast by the changing mood on the streets that is challenging many old norms and values. We are all struggling to define this moment. Scholars and scientists are certainly trying, describing the political climate in democracies variously as illiberal, authoritarian, partial or empty. However it is theorised, it is clear that the texture of democracy will undergo a dramatic shift in the time it takes to fully appreciate the limitations of today’s political projects.

As political ideologies fail to provide purpose and meaning to individuals, they are increasingly finding refuge in identity and religion. The thin line separating church and state is collapsing rapidly. Dislocated from the factory floor and distant from the corridors of power, individuals who once organised themselves under an imagined state of cosmopolitanism are now rallying around a far narrower, tribal sense of self, often located in specificities of place, religion and ethnicity.

Dislocated from the factory floor and distant from the corridors of power, individuals who once organised themselves under an imagined state of cosmopolitanism are now rallying around a far narrower, tribal sense of self, often located in specificities of place, religion and ethnicity.

This fracturing of the political-economic consensus has diminished the international community’s capacity for collective action. The most crucial failure perhaps relates to mitigating climate change. The 2020s are certain to be a crucial decade for climate action and politics. Once a priority only for scientists and activists, the impact of climate change is now more visible and more devastating than any time in history. Consider, for instance, that climate refugees now outnumber those fleeing conflict or looking for economic opportunity. Individuals, businesses and states remain at war with their environment and constrained by short-term thinking in their limited efforts to end this conflict.

When the world is struggling to manage the most pressing existential risk, is it any surprise that other international regimes are equally gridlocked? Twentieth-century rules relating to trade, connectivity, innovation, peace and security have all become forums for the application of perverse unilateral state behaviour. Instead of searching for shared interests that can make these regimes fit for purpose in the 21st century, states are locked into an increasingly destructive zero-sum race.

In these challenging times, defined by what we characterise in our new book as the “New World Disorder”, we cannot overstress how important it is for us in New Delhi to rethink the paradigms that are challenging our world order. Today, the need is for India’s reflexive and discrete responses to these challenges to evolve into the creation of a coalition of like-minded leaders who will use their individual and institutional capacities to respond to the demands of global governance in the 21st century.

This century will take shape in an era of strong leaders, strong corporations and strong communities. It will be an era where cooperation is sporadic, where contest is frequent and consensus is elusive. We hope that India will find the courage to take fresh new initiatives to catalyse a new consensus for our world.
A new, fractured global order is upon us. India’s response must evolve accordingly | ORF
 
Important MEA conference on Asian economies to be held in Pune every year
A prestigious annual conference on geo-economics organised by the Ministry of External Affairs is moving to Pune this year from Mumbai, where it used to be held earlier. The three-day event, rechristened as the Asia Economic Dialogue, would be held at the Pune International Centre (PIC) from February 28 to March 1.

Over 150 participants from 12 countries are listed to participate, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri expected to be among the speakers. Business leaders like Uday Kotak, Baba Kalyani and Kumar Mangalam Birla are also among the speakers.

The event would seek to serve as a platform for influential political and business leaders and policy makers to showcase, and talk about, the developments in Asian countries that are now driving the global economy.

“Asia’s emergence as the economic powerhouse of the world is the story of this century. Very soon, Asia would be contributing more than 50 per cent of the global GDP. This dialogue event is a good platform for thought leaders from Asian countries to come together and discuss ideas and strengthen their bonds,” eminent scientist R A Mashelkar, who serves as the president of the Pune International Centre, said.

The Asia Economic Dialogue is one of the three such events that have been instituted by the Ministry of External Affairs in recent years in association with important think tanks in the country. The other two events focus on politics and technology. At the Pune event, sessions are planned on Global Value Chains, financial innovations in Asia and Africa, and reforms at the World Trade Organisation.

“It is great that this dialogue is now coming to Pune. Pune has historically been the intellectual centre of this country and provided many thought leaders. The Pune International Centre, which we actually call an international centre in Pune, aims to strengthen that cause. The Asia Economic Dialogue is probably the most ambitious project that justifies the term ‘international’ from the PIC perspective. Our long-term dream would be to help it evolve into an event that would rival the Davos kind of gatherings,” said Mashelkar.
Important MEA conference on Asian economies to be held in Pune every year
 
Dhruva Jayshankar did an AMA on r/Indiaspeaks. Very informative stuff :


In case he is the son of Foreign Minister ..
The first thing I would like to ask him is How much did the GOI spent on his flight tickets along with his dad, his schooling and his stay in 5 star hotels during transit along with his dad, medical bills, and vehicle.
 
In case he is the son of Foreign Minister ..
The first thing I would like to ask him is How much did the GOI spent on his flight tickets along with his dad, his schooling and his stay in 5 star hotels during transit along with his dad, medical bills, and vehicle.
It was asked some where in that thread. Find the answer yourself.
 
No one asked it. Full of crap answers.

To my estimates govt has spent more than -Rs. 6-7 crore on his education in american schools. from kg to 12th


aise hi impress mat hua karo :ROFLMAO:
I do remember a question about his educational privileges in India as a diplomat's son also another question about Reliances's funding of ORF. While we are on the subject of govt. funding education, how much money has been spent so far in educating the JNU commies in African studies and tribal anthropology ? At least his study has found a greater purpose and serves India's interests more than the libbies with their "Hum kagaz nahin dikhaenge".
 
I do remember a question about his educational privileges in India as a diplomat's son also another question about Reliances's funding of ORF. While we are on the subject of govt. funding education, how much money has been spent so far in educating the JNU commies in African studies and tribal anthropology ? At least his study has found a greater purpose and serves India's interests more than the libbies with their "Hum kagaz nahin dikhaenge".


Never follow the conventional line. What's been shown on TV and news is some times for foreign audience.
 
India’s Indian Ocean Diplomacy in the COVID-19 Crisis
The outbreak and spread of COVID-19 has created multiple challenges for the entire world. Apart from containing the spread of virus and treating infected patients, there are related political issues such as the blame game between the United States and China, the role of the World Health Organization (WHO), and questions about the future world order.

Amid this entire crisis, India has been playing an important role. India’s role could be considered at both the domestic level – the steps taken to tackle the crisis at home — and the diplomatic level — India’s assistance to other countries, especially in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), amid the pandemic.

India’s approach, including on the diplomatic front, has been proactive since the outbreak of the crisis. One of the first steps taken by India was to evacuate citizens of different countries along with its own citizens from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the first COVID-19 outbreak. Those evacuated as compassionate cases included citizens from IOR countries such as Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Maldives, South Africa, and Madagascar. India not only evacuated these people, but also quarantined them in India as a precautionary measure before sending them to their respective countries.

Second, India has emerged as a major supplier of medicines to different countries worldwide in the fight against COVID-19. As part of that effort, India was the first responder to Mauritius and the Seychelles. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured all possible help to both these countries to face the challenge of COVID-19. Accordingly India sent a consignment of life-saving drugs, including hydroxychloroquine, to Mauritius and the Seychelles.

Third, COVID-19 has provided India an opportunity to address the irritants in its ties with some countries, most notably Iran and Malaysia. In the past few months India’s relations with both these countries were strained owing to Iran and Malaysia’s criticisms of India. However, recently India and Iran cooperated with each other in order to evacuate the Indians stranded in Iran. Later Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani wrote to Modi seeking India’s assistance to deal with COVID-19. Rouhani also reached out to Modi with the expectation that India would stand with Iran against the United States’ sanctions. Apart from this, India has sent a wheat consignment to Afghanistan through Iran’s Chabahar port. With respect to Malaysia, India has agreed to supply anti-malarial drugs, indicating improvement in the bilateral relations.

India’s recent actions, which could be termed as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) operations, build upon its outreach to the IOR, in particular the western Indian Ocean, in the past few years. India has made efforts to reach out to countries like Mauritius and the Seychelles, both of which Modi visited in 2015. In 2018 an agreement between India and the Seychelles was signed to jointly develop a naval base at Assumption Island. Similarly India is engaged in the development of Chabahar port in Iran, which has become operational.

India’s outreach in the IOR and the broader Indo-Pacific Region has been parallel to China’s outreach by way of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). India’s competition with China could be considered asymmetric owing to differences in the economic and military capabilities of both countries. However, China’s development projects have resulted in indebtedness for many countries with limited resources. This situation creates an opportunity for India to present its own alternative to countries in the Indian Ocean Region, which would also facilitate increasing India’s footprint in the region.

The COVID-19 crisis presents a similar opportunity for India. This entire crisis has put the focus on China from different quarters. There is a blame game of sorts between the United States and China about the virus, with segments in each claiming that the virus originated from the other. Questions are also being raised about the role of the WHO, with critics saying the global health body was slow to take actions against the pandemic. Moreover, the WHO also defended China when questions were raised about China’s intentions and failure to control the virus.

In contrast, India started screening international travelers in January. On March 25, India announced a lockdown of 21 days, which was later extended until May 3. This is considered an unprecedented step from India, since its population of more than 1.3 billion makes it the biggest lockdown in the world. Many countries including the United States, Italy and Spain were slow to announce their own lockdowns and as a result are the worst-affected countries, with hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the tens of thousands. In comparison, India’s numbers stand at around 20,000 infected and 645 dead as of April 22. India has also received praise from institutions such as the UN, the WHO, and the IMF for the response to this crisis.

The COVID-19 crisis has raised a debate about the future world order. At present, more and more countries in the world have an unfavorable opinion about China. On the other hand, India has been nimble-footed enough to take this opportunity and build up goodwill, which could result in elevated status in the post-COVID-19 period. India has also concentrated most of its efforts in the strategically important Indian Ocean Region, which has given it leverage. India’s diplomacy in the IOR could define its position in the changed world order.
 
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