Year End Review 2004

The UPA Government has come out with a foreign policy which is purposeful, result-oriented and pro-active. India, today, enjoys a unique profile in the international arena as a factor of stability, a model of plural and secular democracy and an economic powerhouse that is destined to play a greater role in the international affairs.

India’s emergence as a compulsory destination in the itineraries of leaders from all parts of the world reflects the high standing and credibility that the Government and its leadership enjoy.

Amongst the earliest crisis that the Government faced was the kidnapping of three Indians for ransom in Iraq. After more than a month’s long patience and delicate effort, the Government was able to ensure safe return of hostages without sacrificing any principles. The successful and mature handling this crisis set the stage for reorientation of Indian Foreign Policy in the service of the nation in a rapidly transforming and ever more challenging global environment.

The Government has re-focused India’s Foreign Policy giving high priority to relations with all its neighbours. The Minister for External Affairs chose Nepal for his first visit after taking over his office. A number of high level visits have been hosted from the neighbouring countries, including both the President and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, King of Bhutan, the Prime Minister of Nepal and Foreign Minister, Commerce Minister and Finance Minister of Bangladesh have been among the recent visitors. A major landmark has been the visit of the Head of State of Myanmar to Delhi in November this year, the first such visit in 26 years. This has resulted in important cross-border projects being taken up and coordinated action to deal with insurgency in border areas.

The Government’s engagement with India’s neighbours has not been limited only to Government-to-Government level but has consciously encompassed different sections of society and across the political spectrum. The UPA Government believes that it is important to have frequent and regular contacts and wide-ranging discussions with the neighbouring countries at all levels to take forward and to maximize opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation. At the same time, the Government has not hesitated to address issues where there may be differences, but has done so in a spirit of friendship and in a constructive search for practical and mutually acceptable solutions. This will be the approach to the forthcoming SAARC Summit, which will be held in Dhaka in January 2005. The present Government remains committed to a collective future of peace and prosperity for the entire South Asian region.

With Pakistan, the Government has put behind reactive policy, which frequently oscillated between euphoria and despair. The Government now has engaged in a sustained and comprehensive dialogue process. It will not be deflected by transient developments and often contradictory pronouncement from the other side of the border. The Government’s confidence in taking this process forward is reflected in the number of wide-ranging confidence building measures that it has put on table, including several on unilateral basis. Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has clearly enunciated the parameters within which India seeks peace with Pakistan.

The Government has managed to intensify relations with China. Prime Minister recently met the Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jia Bao, during the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane. The Chinese leader said that the most important item on his agenda in 2005 would be his visit to India in March 2005. Two rounds of talks have already been held between the special representatives of the two countries on the boundary question. The importance of the relationship is also reflected in the visits recently of two senior Chinese State Councillors and Shri K. Natwar Singh, Minister for External Affairs, four times in three months in Qingtao, Jakarta, New York and Almaty. During his visit to India, State Councillor Tang Jia Xuar recognised the active role that India could play in international affairs and in the Security Council.

For India, relations with the US are special because both are vibrant democracies. India’s relations are being expanded across the board. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh met President Bush in New York in September 2004, which resulted in a strong reaffirmation of the strategic partnership between the two countries. The Secretary of Defence, Rumsfeld, visited New Delhi in December. India’s perspectives on specific issues may be different and that may lead to differences in policies. However, India shares a great enduring affinity as peoples wedded to democratic values and today there is such a broad range of interaction between the two countries across the board, that changes in the US administration have not resulted in any uncertainty or doubt. India-US relations are beginning to acquire a degree of stability and predictability. Both countries are ready to work together on shared concerns.

Two million diaspora of India is a strong factor in this relationship. On missile defence, India has given no commitment about its participation. At this stage, India is being given technical briefings and presentation on missile defence by the US. The US administration has approached the US Congress for the supply of a weapons package to Pakistan, including surveillance aircrafts and anti-tank missiles. The UPA Government has expressed India’s strong concern over this move at very high levels of the US government. It has pointed out that supply of arms to Pakistan at a time when India-Pakistan dialogue is at a sensitive stage, would have a negative impact. India has also conveyed that US arms supplied to Pakistan would also have a negative impact on the goodwill the US enjoys in India, particularly as a sister democracy. On the possible supply of F-16 aircrafts to Pakistan, the US government has conveyed that no decision has been taken and is not imminent. The Government has cautioned the US against such a decision. The Government will not hesitate to take steps to ensure that India’s defence preparedness is not compromised in any way.

With Russia, India has a strategic and a time-tested relationship, which has stood the challenge of a changing global and regional environment. President Putin’s recent visit to India provided an opportunity to take forward these relations to a much higher level of interaction. Significant successes in the field of space and energy cooperation have strengthened the strategic nature of the relationship. The signing of 4 agreements and 6 MoUs is indicative of the breadth of India’s relationship with Russia. A declaratory phase in relations between the two countries has given way to concrete steps to put substance into professed intentions. The Government is also gratified that President Putin supported India’s candidature for the United Nations Security Council seat with veto power.

There is a growing recognition of India as an indispensable partner by the international community and this is reflected particularly in the European Union (EU), now consisting of 25 members, seeking a strategic partnership with India. This was the theme of the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to The Hague in November 2004. The declaration on strategic partnership will now be followed by a political declaration and an Action Plan to be adopted at the next India-EU Summit in the year 2005. This will provide a new focus and add substance to already wide-ranging relationship with the EU.

India’s "Look East Policy" has now been given a new dimension by the UPA Government. India is now looking towards a partnership with the ASEAN countries, both within BIMSTEC and the India-ASEAN Summit dialogue as integrally linked to economic and security interests, particularly for India’s East and North East region. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh flagged off the first India-ASEAN car rally from Guwahati that drew enthusiastic support from within the ASEAN countries as also from India’s North Eastern States. The adoption of the document on "India-ASEAN Partnership for Peace, Progress and Prosperity" at the Indo-ASEAN Summit on November 30, 2004 symbolises that India now forms the inner core of countries in ASEAN’s political relationship with the rest of the world.

The importance which West Asia and the Gulf enjoy in terms of India’s interest cannot be over emphasised. Particularly, when more than 3 million Indian citizens live and work in this region. Recognising this, the Government has intensified India’s relations with all key countries in the region, as well as with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with which India has signed a Framework Agreement for Economic Cooperation. For the Indian citizens in the region, the Government has established 24 hour Helpline Centre in Saudi Arabia and will extend to other capitals. All Indian Missions and Posts in the Gulf observe an "Open House" once a month to enable the Indian nationals to meet senior officials without appointment to seek any assistance.

The Government has taken a decision not only to increase the number of Haj pilgrims from India but also restored the subsidy which had been reduced by the previous Government.

India’s long standing friendship with the Palestinian people and its support for their cause was reaffirmed when Shri K. Natwar Singh, Minister for External Affairs, led a multi-party delegation to Cairo to pay homage to the memory of Yasser Arafat, the much revered leader of the Palestinian people. In September, Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri E. Ahamed, had visited Ramala with a goodwill message from Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh reiterating India’s unwavering support to Palestine, which was greatly appreciated by the late President Arafat.

The Government has made a clear-cut enunciation of its policy of not sending troops to Iraq, which has been endorsed by Parliament. At the same time, the Government has maintained India’s engagement with the friendly people of Iraq. This has taken the shape of humanitarian and reconstruction aid and more recently support for the forthcoming election process in Iraq. The restoration of political stability in Iraq is of direct concern to India, which depends upon this region for a substantial part of its energy supplies and also because over 3 million Indian citizens live and work in this region.

One of the key achievements of the Government has been ‘Focus Africa Policy’. In the last few months, in Africa-India relations, in terms of more and greater exchanges of high level visits, greater economic and technical cooperation, both bilateral as well as within the context of the African Union and India’s contribution to peace-keeping in several African countries. Illustrative of this is the announcement of President of India, while visiting South Africa in September 2004, of an ambitious project for linking all 53 African countries through a satellite as well as a fibre optic based network. This would be the backbone of the services such as tele-medicine, distant education and IT-enabled services.

Central Asia is not only a strategic region, but also extended neighbourhood with which India enjoys long-standing, historical and cultural relations. Central Asia is an important economic partner, particularly in terms of India’s energy requirement. The Government is moving quickly to intensify India’s relations with countries in this region through high-level visits and improved communications and increased economic and commercial relations. The Minster for External Affairs, Shri K. Natwar Singh, visited Kazakhstan in October 2004 and also hosted the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan.

The Government has also intensified relations with Latin America and the Caribbean both at the bilateral level and with the regional groups. Ministerial visits of Foreign Ministers of Mexico, Venezuela, Suriname and the visit of Shri Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State, to Panama, Colombia, Dominican Republic and El-Salvador has maintained high-level interaction with the countries of the region. India’s commonalities with Brazil have continued to grow as both collaborate on Security Council reform and the WTO. The process of finalizing Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with MERCOSUR (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay) is on course and negotiations are being held with Chile.

The efforts of the Government have ensured that India’s claim to be a Permanent Member of the Security Council within the context of overall reform of the UN has been well established within the international community. It was thanks to intensive diplomacy on the part of the UPA Government that India was able to create a common platform of the four most credible aspirants for Permanent Membership of the Security Council. India, Brazil, Germany and Japan are mutually supportive of each other and have agreed to work together to realise their shared objective. India also supports African representation in the Permanent Membership. Recently, the panel appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations on "Threats, Challenges and Change" has submitted a number of recommendations or institutional changes in UN, including the composition of the UN Security Council. India will study them and in consultation with other Member States will decide how to take the process of reform forward during the next year.

The Foreign Policy today cannot be divorced from domestic developments. In order, therefore, to ensure a more consultative approach in Indian Foreign Policy, the Minister for External Affairs has initiated a mechanism for coordination with other Ministries and agencies as well as with State Governments, particularly those which border India’s neighbours. For example, the Ministry of External Affairs is closely coordinating its diplomacy with the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in respect of securing energy supplies for India in different parts of the world. The Government is also engaged in a major programme for the upgradation of cross-border infrastructure working together with the Ministries of Home and Surface Transport as also with State Governments.

The Government has put in place a multi-dimensional and consultative process of thought and action. The Government’s foreign policy today has clear focus, a sense of maturity and a pro-active character recognizing that the lines dividing the domestic from external, the political from the economic, are becoming increasingly blurred. Today, there is a general recognition that India’s destiny is being guided by steady hands, backed by both experience and wisdom and demonstrating a confidence that it can deliver.

India’s Foreign Policy has traditionally been based on national consensus. It is the Government’s intention that the consensus should be maintained and strengthened.

Recognizing the fact that there is much wisdom which also lies beyond the corridors of the Ministry of External Affairs in the South Block, the Minister for External Affairs has set up a foreign policy Advisory Group to get inputs on important contemporary issues from experts and academics outside the Government. The Government has also been hard at work to make the Ministry of External Affairs a much more effective instrument for implementing India’s Foreign Policy. Today there is much better morale in the Indian Foreign Service and a much more collegiate style of work with the result that the quality of Indian diplomacy has improved considerably.

The Government is of the view that practice of diplomacy must respond to the needs of the times. Accordingly, Indian Ambassadors abroad have not only become active in economic diplomacy but have also been reaching out to the Indian diaspora with a view to involving them in exciting task of building a new India. Indian Ambassadors are also mandated to look after the interests and security of Indians abroad. Regular training courses for different levels of Foreign Service personnel are conducted by the Foreign Service Institute.