In recent months and years, India has been basking in the global spotlight. From the G20 presidency two years ago, to India’s overseas State visits to western countries where large trade and investment deals were signed, to India co-chairing the AI Summit in France recently, and intentions to host the next one in India, we have been participating in many international discussions and dialogues.
We have been shouting from the rooftops that we are the fastest growing major economy, and comparing ourselves with other global powers only on the basis of headline GDP and saying we will become the world’s third largest economy by a certain year, we will also achieve developed nation status by 2047, etc.
This is all very well, but I think it is time we also paid attention to our immediate neighbourhood. Achieving economic growth as an island of relative prosperity in the midst of troubled economies is not exactly the best recipe for success. To continue to grow well as an economy and also distribute the benefits of that growth equitably among our own population, we need to also ensure that there is a peaceful and stable environment in which we operate.
Decades ago, there used to be a lot of mention of SAARC in the news in India, and our engagement with countries in the South Asia region. For the past many years, we don’t hear of it that much; in fact, I haven’t heard of it at all. Nobody knows or cares where or when the next SAARC summit is to take place and what are the discussions going on. Then, as now, I suspect unprofessional PR agency idiot bosses for deciding and perhaps even directing the narrative. Around 20 years ago, Perfect Relations boasted of being South Asia’s largest PR agency. Now, their sights have shifted to the global scene and their ambition and greed involves wrecking my career in advertising and brand communications and taking it over, in order to go global.
Neither they, nor the government which I suspect to be hugely influenced by these unprofessional elements, are fooling me. It was good to see some progress in our talks with China which has resulted in joint patrolling of the LAC. There was also news of commercial flights being resumed between our two countries. While this is good, we must find a permanent solution to the festering border issue and also initiate trade talks with China that allows greater access to their markets for Indian companies. Right now, trade between India and China is large and growing, but unbalanced, with India importing much more from China than exporting to them. More importantly, more Chinese companies and brands are invested in India, than we are in China. It’s something worth thinking about and resolving.
Then, there is the rest of the region. Sri Lanka has a new government elected recently and most of its efforts, I would imagine, are on rebuilding their economy after the huge economic crisis that hit them a couple of years ago. While they are in an IMF assistance programme of a total of US$ 3 billion since 2023, it makes sense for India to engage with the country economically and offer them our assistance and cooperation as well. Besides, India – especially Tamils from our country – has significant people-to-people ties with Sri Lanka, and it would be foolish for us to ignore this very important aspect. In fact, just a few days ago, it was announced that Adani Energy had pulled out of a planned investment in Sri Lanka and media reports are too sketchy to mean anything.
Pakistan continues to be on a cold, no-engagement, no-talks mode with us. They are also under an IMF assistance programme of a total of US$ 7 billion. I wonder what we can do to break the ice and restart a dialogue with the country, even if it is about ensuring greater security from terrorist activity. The bigger concern for India now is Bangladesh which went into a political crisis recently, resulting in the former PM, Sheikh Hasina, seeking refuge in our country. We have always had good relations with Bangladesh – especially when the Awami League is in power – since we helped liberate the country in 1971. Our offering their former PM exile has earned the disapprobation of the general public in Bangladesh, not just the political leadership. We must remember that we share a long border with the country, which has often been a source of infiltration and illegal immigration into India. And we must try and restart proper dialogue with the new government there, and offer our assistance and cooperation in a time of need, as well as to discuss how we can control illegal immigration better together.
We must also realise that in helping our neighbouring countries, we can try and be a necessary counterweight to China and its growing influence in the South Asia region. At the moment, the Chinese economy is experiencing slow growth and the domestic economy is what the Chinese government is most focused on. Increasing our engagement with neighbouring countries at this time would be a good investment in our shared future as the South-Asian region. Engaging and investing in Nepal and Bhutan, small countries to the north, along India’s border with China is equally important. I am not sure about Nepal, but Bhutan is reported to be a country where we have hydro-power projects, and staying economically engaged with them would make sense.
Then, there is Afghanistan, that also happens to be part of South Asia. A country on the other side of Pakistan from us, that was abandoned only recently by western powers, led by the US. The fact that they left the country to be ruled by the Taliban is a sign that it finally dawned on them that this is not a war they were ever going to win. However, the manner in which they deserted the country and its inhabitants, including freezing their paltry assets when people were dying of cold and starvation doesn’t say much for their leadership. India had invested hugely in social and physical infrastructure in Afghanistan when the country was making some economic and social progress, especially in the education of girls and in women taking up employment. Hardly anyone reports on the country now, and I wonder if it isn’t also time that we raised our level of engagement with Afghanistan.
In fact, as I have written before, I think India needs to think far more strategically on our role in this region, as well as in Central Asia. I have argued for India to raise its engagement and investment in Central Asia, in order to improve our energy security as well as that of the rest of South Asia. As a rising economic power, India has got to take her role more seriously, and this cannot be in isolation from the region’s growth and prosperity.
In the new and emerging geo-political and economic world order, countries are increasingly beginning to trade and invest more with like-minded countries that share similar values. I have questioned the logic and rationale of this in a blog post long ago, as I do not think it’s a healthy sign of where the world is headed. That said, I do think that in the new emerging world order, maintaining strong ties with countries in the neighbourhood, and including them in your sphere of influence has never been more important. I say this again, also in the context of how little we engage or trade with ASEAN, a hub of growing economic activity and trade, especially in the new digital world economy.
The animated owl gif that forms the featured image and title of the Owleye column is by animatedimages.org and I am thankful to them.
Peripatetic Perch 