Indias Current Relations And Foreign Policy Politics Essay

Indias actual Relations And Foreign Policy Politics Essay Modern Indias contradictory polity came in to be with the independence in 1947. Till then, the nation, as a satellite of the British Empire, was bound by the identity and postulates of inappropriate policy dictated by the erstwhile Empire. Thereafter, India charted a course of its witness in bloodsucking foreign policy. The homogeneous being a subject of colossal scope and non particularly relevant to this thesis is not discussed here. It would be worthwhile in scheme of things to discuss the basic determinants which steer Indias policy in case of midpoint East which is base on quest five primary factors7-(a) Reliance on lay East bollix and oil, which makes it binding on India to maintain cordial traffic with most of the study suppliers, including Iran, UAE, Qatar, Saudi-Arabian-Arabian Arabia and Iraq. However, India does not want to face any temporary cut-off in its supplies or an change magnitude price hi ke. Also, it does not want to be dependent on Pakistan in this regard.(b) While being a secular democracy, India is likewise a study Islamic state, and likenesss with Iran, in particular, resonate in the northern Indian heartland, notably Uttar Pradesh. Also, India has a large group of Shia champion groups. Thus, India has to balance among its foreign and frugalal policies on one hand, and home(prenominal) politics on the other(a). Indias preferred strategy is to avoid, at all costs, any stark choice amongst the loss of domestic political back up and achieving some foreign policy goal.(c) India is hyper sensitive to criticism of its policies in Kashmir, and wants to make the major Muslim nations from either intervening in Kashmir or bread and butter Pakistan. Thus, India conducts balance of power diplomacy, aimed at countering Pakistani lure in Middle East and to keep Kashmir away from any discussions.(d) India has initiated relations with Israel in content of techno logy, military benefits intelligence leading to increase in its influence in Washington. However, India has to carefully balance its equations with Israel and other Middle East nations.(e) India similarly does not want to run afoul of USs non-prolif whiletion policies in the Middle East, eventide though strategically speaking India has reservations about us non-prolif timetion goals and tactics. conventionally India was instrumental in building a theoretical case once over once against NPT. The same arguments are now been used by Iran and North Korea for advancing their cases.14. The major doers in Middle East region presently are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Israel. The other smaller disconnect States like Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait, Yemen and few other states construct the rest of Middle East region. Out of the said nations Iraq presently has ceased to be an Copernican power in the region after the occupation by the UN forces backed mainly by US and NATO states.15. India has traditionally pursued a pro-Arab policy to fightds Middle East nations and remained aligned against Israel until 1990s. This was basically aimed at countering Pakistans influence in the region and to secure access to Middle East vegetable oil resources. In the late 1960s and 1970s, India successfully developed mutually just economic exchanges with a number of Middle East countries particularly Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other Persian states, thereby, improving bilateral relations with them. This strong race particularly with Iran and Iraq helped India weather the displeasure of Islamic nations during 1971 Indo-Pak war.8The alliance was further cemented by Indias anti Israeli stance during 1967 and 1973 Arab Israel conflict. The situation continued until 1978 and 1979 when the establishing of Islamic government activity under Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan supporting the Marxist governing in Kabul complicated India s relations with Middle East. This resulted in weakening of Iran as regional power and emergence of Pakistan as important player in balance of power in the region. The major powers like US, china and Arab world aligned themselves towards Pakistan to counter the rising Soviet influence in the region. For about a decade India did the act of fine balancing its patronage and role in the region. However, in the 1990s India took a deviation from its stanch anti Israel stand and initiated relations with the Zionist state. This was dictated by hard-nosed economic and aegis considerations in the post Cold war era and the influence of Hindu nationalist sentiments. Thus, following the example of Soviet sodality and China, India also established relations with Israel. Once again during the Persian disjunction War (1990-91) Indias Middle East policy had to face a brand-new test. It had to decide between adhering to its traditional Non Alignment policy sympathetic to Iraq or favour the co alition of Arab and Western countries which would have been beneficial to Indias economic and security interests. After initial ambivalent speak to India conjugate ranks with the later and support the UN resolution authorising the use of force to expel Iraq from the Kuwaiti territory. The improvement of relations with most Middle East nations was pursued with renewed vigour by the Indian government in mid 1990s. The present relations of India with Middle East nations are discussed in subsequent paragraphs.16. Saudi Arabia. Historically Indo- Saudi ties have been based on trade. In the old times it mingled spices and in modern times it has start out based on petroleum. Besides, the twain nations also share cultural ties due to the large number of Muslim population in India and 1.6 million Indian work force in Saudi.9India and Saudi Arabia initially established diplomatic relations in 1952 and their kinship progressed smoothly in the 1950s but suffered during the Cold war era due to Indias inclination towards the Soviet block and Saudis traditionally closelipped relations with Pakistan. Thereafter, Indias relations improve with Saudi Arabia in beginning of 1980s and increased cooperation was seen in economic, trade, science, technical and cultural fields. However, once again the relations mat the heat on account of different stands taken by both the nations during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The Saudi Arabia initially support the mujahideens followed by the Taliban, whereas, the India support the cause of the Northern Alliance. The relations between the devil once again saw improvement in 1990s leading to increased visits, exchanges and economic and scientific cooperation. This was followed by the signing of Delhi Declaration in 2006, a simple ranging agreement which includes in its ambit mutual agreement to strengthen and let out economic ties, cooperating in combating international crime and ensuring the stability of the oil trade.10The relations between both the nations are grounded on the following defining factors-(a) Economic. Although, based on energy exports the bilateral trade affinity between the twain has grown significantly since mid 1990s. In FY 2007 India imported $ 12.4 one million million of petroleum from Saudi Arabia (26% of Indias overall petro import). The non-oil bilateral trade also increased from$ 1.3 cardinal in FY-2002 to $ 3.5 billion in FY-2007. In addition India also sure remittances worth $3 billion from the workers in Saudi Arabia. The predicted bilateral non-oil trade between the two nations is likely to cross $7 billion in FY-2010.11(b) Defence, Labour Relations and Education. India and Saudi Arabia are working towards an increased cooperation on defence and related technology. The sizable Indian diaspora in Saudi Arabia is also an important contributor to the required workforce so vital to its economy. other focus area between the two nations is education and efforts are being made to enable increased number of Saudi Arabia students to pursue lay Graduate and Doctoral stu get goings, especially in technical institutions of India.17. Iran. The relations between Iran and India trace back to 3500 years ago, however, in much of the twentieth ascorbic acid they have shared a unstable relationship. Diplomatic ties between the two commenced in 1950 but immediately faced the first roadblock when Iran joined the Baghdad Pact. Thereafter, the relations improved in 1960s but again received a setback when Iran aided Pakistan in 1965 conflict against India. sequent to 1971s decisive victory over Pakistan the relation between the two slates improved considerably and led to number of agreements including that on nuclear cooperation in 1974.12However, the formation of theocratic Iran in 1979, subsequent to the Islamic Revolution once again upset the apple cart. The relationship between the two remained cold during the entire 1980s as Iran didnt show any inclination to improve the relationship and India remained wary that Iran ordain import Shiate terrorism to India. The relationship between the two improved in 1990 due to Indias desire to secure energy supplies and economic opportunities in Central Asia and the opposition of both the countries to the Taliban in Afghanistan. The rise of Sunni Islamist forces in Afghan theatre, especially Pakistan based Taliban proved a great unifying(a) force leading to deterioration of Iran- Pakistan relations. The Indo-Iran relations picked up further pulse as India opened towards it due to its energy requirements subsequent to loss of Iraqi sources after 1991 disjunction war. The main foundations of relations between India and Iran are discussed on a lower floor-(a) Economics and Energy. India is worlds sixth largest consumer of energy and Iran is the fourth largest supplier, obviously, energy is the most important pillar between them.13Both the nations have held regular bilateral meetings center primar ily on the energy supply issues including the proposal for a liquefied Gas Pipeline from Iran to India through Pakistan and alternatively, through tanker. However, the said scheme has not been fructified due to US pressure on India and Pakistan against the deal and the Indian panic that it will provide Pakistan too much leverage over Indian energy supplies. However, the plan has proved resilient and not yet died down. slowdown certain other bottlenecks to the scheme have emerged inform of increased determine by Iran. On its part India is keen to commence procurement of LNG by sea, which will require establishing LNG terminals at Iran to allow exports. This is not possible because it will require certain US components which will end up violating the US sanctions against Iran. The present state of the said scheme is in limbo.(b) Defence Cooperation. defense mechanism cooperation has been another important part of the Indo-Iranian relationship. In the 1990s, India assisted Iran wi th upgrading its Russian-built military equipment, including adapting batteries for its Kilo-class diesel submarines avionics upgrades for its MiG-29 fighters. Since 2000, India has conducted joint patrols or exercises with the majority of the navies of the Indian Ocean littoral. The 2003 meeting between Khatami and Vajpayee on Indias Republic Day produced the Road Map to Strategic Cooperation, which presents goals for put to deathing the cooperation envisioned in the New Delhi Declaration. A number of reports have mentioned to a greater extent direct Indo-Iranian cooperation in the realm of defense, such as Tehrans acquiescence to Iran-based Indian intelligence operations and even potential Indian military bases in Iran. Indias assistance in upgrading the Iranian port of Chahbahar has led many to translate that Indian warships would be based there in order to ruff Pakistans China-assisted Gwadar port, seemingly pitting rising power against rising power.18. Israel. Indo-Israeli t ies remained at a low level throughout the cold war for both ideologic and practical reasons. Indias large Muslim population was, of course, a factor. Furthermore, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indias prime minister of religion until 1964 was a close friend of Egypts Nasser, who was an implacable foe of Israel. While India and Israel sporadically aidd on mutual interests, such as Israeli aid to India during the 1962 war with China or proposed plans to destroy the Pakistani reactor at Kahuta in the 1980s,14their public relationship often was acrimonious, especially after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, which put Indias ally in direct conflict with Israel. In fact, in 1975 India publicly supported and funded the Palestine Liberation Organization and voted for the UN resolution to equate Zionism with racism. The decline of the Soviet Union forced India to re-evaluate its foreign policy resulting in opening of the Indian economy and a desire to trade with high-tech states, including Israel. The new a pproach to foreign policy, combined with the new initiatives to end the Arab-Israeli conflict in the a evoken of the 1991 Gulf War and the push by the opposition led to India initiating close ties with Israel and the two countries established full diplomatic relations in 1992. For intimately a decade afterward, commercial trade in arms and other goods thrived and ties were quietly strengthened. Indo-Israeli military exercises and agreements in the fields of the environment, health, illicit traffic in drugs, visa waivers for diplomatic service personnel, and an educational cultural exchange program. In the same year, India and Israel issued the Delhi Statement on Friendship and Cooperation, in which they agreed to cooperate closely on counterterrorism and called on the international community to take decisive work against cross-border terrorism and money-laundering operations to finance terrorism.19. Defense collaboration and arms gross sales with Israel picked up in January 1999 when the United States withdrew the sanctions that it had imposed on India in the wake of New Delhis 1998 nuclear test. In the late 1990s India purchased unmanned gay vehicles, artillery, and radar systems from Israel. The emerging Indo-Israeli relationship was codified in 2001 with the creation of the adjunction Defense Cooperation Group, which meets annually to solidify defense deals and military ties and coordinate the security relationship. India has become Israels largest arms market, overtaking Russia in 2009. India has purchased a wide range of technically advanced equipment and weapons from Israel, including antimissile radar and electronic warfare components for the Indian navy and manner force, for a total of more than $5 billion since 2002.20. Indias Relations with The piddling Gulf States. Indias ties with the geographically small but economically important Gulf states of Oman, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait have been historically good due to trade and migratio n and their present-day(prenominal) economic relationship is booming. Indias trade with the six Gulf Cooperation Council states (excluding oil) totaled $86.9 billion in FY 2008-09, surpassing Indias trade with the European Union ($80.6 billion), the ASEAN (Association of southeastern Asian Nations) countries ($44.6 billion), and the United States ($40.6 billion).15Looking to the future, Indian leaders have verbalized a desire to continue the rapid expansion of trade, attract Gulf investment for major infrastructure projects, and broaden their Gulf state relationships beyond economics. In a May 2008 speech in Abu Dhabi, Indias external personal business minister, Pranab Mukherjee, called for a transformation of Indias relations with the Gulf states beyond that of a buyer-seller relationship to a more substantial and enduring partnership. With Indias thriving economic relationship with the Gulf, continuing demographic ties and nascent defense cooperation, such an evolution may al ready be under way.