India’s Foreign Policy: A Perspective

The Indian Ambassador to Iran recently told the Iranian media that India has asked the US to stay out of the Chabahar Project. This comment came in the light of various speculations which included Iran dropping India out of the project amid growing partnership between US and India. The Iranian port of Chabahar is both strategically and commercially important for India since it provides the much-needed sea-land connectivity through Zahedan in Iran to Afghanistan bypassing the traditional land route through Pakistan.

The project also strategically poses a challenge to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China. After the Galwan valley incident in which about 20 Indian soldiers were killed along with some Chinese casualties, the analysis and current trend of India’s Foreign Policy is much needed.

India-US Relations

Since the end of the cold war India and US relations have achieved new dimensions and the partnership between the two nations  has significantly expanded on various fronts. Although there have been minor setbacks particularly on the trade front, New Delhi and Washington have moved closer to each other on security issues. India has signed an agreement with the US – the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement in 2016, the Communications Compatibility and Security Arrangement in 2018 and is very near to signing the final agreement – Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation. More recently at the Namaste Trump event in February India ended up agreeing to the $3 billion defence deal.

India and China are two countries which always looked at a 21st century led by Asia. However, it is China who gained the upper hand in economic development and has constantly appeared as a new global hegemon challenging the unipolar world order, making the USA uncomfortable.

It is worthwhile to mention that the US’s national interest includes much more than maintaining external sovereignty and neutralizing traditional security threats. It involves preventing external hegemonic control of crucial geopolitical areas of the world (for example the South China Sea or the Strait of Hormuz) and preventing the rise of any counter-hegemonic power. It also involves churning out policies which sustains free trade but one which is dominated by itself. When China started to threaten this world order, the US had no other option but to strengthen its relationship with the other regional power in the region – India.

Beijing on the other hand understands this threat and has increased belligerence towards New Delhi which is one of the many reasons that led to the increased tensions along the LAC. Recently the USS Nimitz, an aircraft carrier, conducted a joint exercise with the Indian Navy in the Indian Ocean as a strong signal to China. The US’s many domestic politicians both Democratic and Republican have criticised China because of the recent border clashes. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also highly critical of China’s foreign policy and its “bullying of its neighbours”. After the clash US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper also spoke to the defence minister of India Mr Rajnath Singh. It is very much likely that New Delhi and Washington will move much closer in the coming days.

India-Iran Relations

Iran is a very important strategic partner as well as an important commercial partner for India. Iran’s geopolitical position is important for India as it can counteract China’s presence in the area and also increase its own influence in the region. The investment of India in the Chabahar Project not only helps India to establish trade relations with Iran but also Afghanistan. It also opens up the possibility of reducing transit times to places as far as Moscow. This can also help India to have better influence in Afghanistan and counter Pakistani influence in the region. The investment also counteracts the massive investment by China in Pakistan’s Gwadar port. Establishing trade and good relations with Iran also secures India’s domestic energy needs and reduces its dependence on Saudi Arabia which has much closer ties to Pakistan.

For Iran’s foreign policy India is a secondary actor. The primary function of its foreign policy is dealing with the US sanctions and negotiating trade deals with China. It is obvious that Iran will shift towards China with increasing hostility from the US. Iran’s defence program largely depends mostly on imports from China and somewhat from Russia. As India strengthened its ties with the US and US backed Israel it was not a surprise that Tehran chose Beijing over New Delhi. Recently because of the “controversial” Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the violence which had broken out in parts of Delhi in the month of February, Tehran had criticised New Delhi of its policies. However, both the government has tried to maintain close ties in spite of the geopolitical unrest that seems to unravel in the region.

The Road Ahead

When the Galwan valley clash took place India’s neighbours didn’t condemn such aggression of China. While it is much to expect that small neighbours would raise their voice against China, since many of them are under the much condemned “debt-trap diplomacy”, it is a growing concern for India when the neighbours are aligning more towards China than India. Traditional allies like Nepal and Bangladesh who also happen to share borders with India. Nepal had previously shifted its domestic cooking gas needs from India – who held a monopoly in this sector for long. Nepal is importing these and much of its medicines from China. This has much to do with the two-month blockade at the border town of Birgunj which stopped Indian supplies from entering Nepal’s interior. Nepal’s government had termed the standoff back in 2015 as “unofficial blockade” by India because the blockade was initiated by Madhesis who are ethnically and linguistically closer to the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. This led to growth of anti-Indian sentiments in the Nepalis people and Nepal’s domestic politics. As it is said that domestic politics ultimately influence foreign policy, so in the same fashion Nepal slowly moved towards China and also published maps claiming parts of India as Nepal’s territory.

Similarly India-Bangladesh ties has been hurt by some anxieties which emerged in the Bangladesh domestic political sphere over the CAA in India. Panic in India has also been exacerbated by the closeness that is developing between Dhaka and Beijing. Similarly domestic political strife like the CAA has also attracted comments from countries like Indonesia and Malaysia.

While it will be unrealistic  to say that India should stop collaborating with the US since it is hard to neglect the US given the present world order, it is important for India to mitigate its domestic political strife. Foreign policy is a two way process – it involves how New Delhi sees other states, it has also much to do with what others think of India and its domestic politics. Mitigating the domestic problems will enable India to have better relations with the neighbours and tighten  its regional security. At the same time it will also ensure to keep the US at bay from interfering in regional geopolitical issues in Asia. India also needs to reform its land acquisition laws and strongly deal with red-tapism to attract Foreign Direct Investment which are leaving mainland China and looking for new places. This will also give India a certain economic leverage in the region thus countering China. On the Iran question it is hard to say much except the recent developments however India should maintain close partnerships with Iran and must come to a certain understanding with the US so as not to attract sanctions to its projects with Iran. This will pave the way forward for regional peace and stability.

Manish Dutta

Intern, AGA