Just a few days back, India climbed up the economic ladder to become the 5th largest economy in the world by surpassing the UK. This is indeed a proud moment for Indians, which has been widely celebrated across Indian social media, even though we Indians have been suave in pointing out the same news that western media broadcasted as the UK missing its 5th position for now! We all know how biased the western media has always been towards India.
But the world has changed, and the rise of India is unstoppable. Not only in terms of GDP but also in Geo-politics, the stature of India has been steadily rising. We all watched our beloved Foreign minister Dr S.Jaishankar, who confidently pointed out to the hypocritical western media Europe’s stand regarding Russian gas. The whole world watched for the first time, how India gave a stern response to the west in their own land, in the 2+2 ministerial dialogue.
The kind of decisive leadership India has demonstrated under PM Narendra Modi and FM S.Jaishankar is truly a sign of a new beginning of India’s rise in the Geo-political world. Not long back, India was known as a country that never took any sides. In fact, between 1947 and 1991, India ( though had good relations with the Soviet Union) preferred to be a part of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) along with a handful of other nations like Cuba and Vietnam.
That stand did not change even after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Even though India had no option but to develop close relations with the West especially the USA, the nature of foreign policy which India exhibited did not show any leadership or change either. It tried to remain neutral, just like in Hindi, we call it ‘Kissi ko upset nahi karna hain’. India tried to maintain a balance between its long, time-tested friendship with Russia, and with its new partner, the United States.
But since the ascent of PM Modi in 2014, the nature of India’s foreign policy has transformed dramatically. From its previous record of acting as a mere spectator to world events, India started to put its own views on the table. More than words, it put emphasis on actions. That lead to close ties with several nations in the last 8 years. For example, PM Modi took the initiative in developing close relations with West Asia, especially with Israel and Arab nations at the same time. Today, India is a trusted partner amongst Arab nations like UAE and Saudi Arabia, and not only Pakistan has been sidelined, but the Arab world has strongly criticized Pakistan for its anti-India policies over several decades.
Earlier, India declared its Look East policy. But only in the last 7-8 years, India has ‘Acted East’ in a constructive way. Today, with our deliberate efforts, India enjoys excellent relations with several East Asian countries like Japan, S.Korea, Taiwan Vietnam, and even Australia. This has been crucial to counter China, which shares the historic enmity and border conflicts with most of the East Asian countries. With Japan, India has established a close partnership that has been cemented for years, and this has also led to the formation of QUAD, along with USA and Australia.
Today we see India plays such a pivotal role in world affairs, which very few nations have the privilege of. This is not just because India has the world’s 2nd largest population, has the 5th largest economy, or is the 3rd largest in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). But also because unlike the USA, China, and the UK, India enjoys a good standing in the world with zero records of conflicts or wars. We all are aware of how USA and Russia have waged wars in different parts of the world since 1945. Several wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Cuba, and Latin American countries have been blamed on the USA. Even Russia with its recent Special Military Operation in Ukraine has led to the revival of the old days of the war in Europe. UK, France, Germany, and even Japan suffer from their colonial past. China recently has created its own notorious record during Covid-19 and with its infamous debt-trap diplomacy. The fate of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and several African countries has shown how China can destroy and capture the country with its debt-trap diplomacy.
No country other than India has such a large, educated, young, English-speaking, technology-capable population. India is a democratic success for the last 75 years, in spite of having a diverse population, culture, religion, and languages. India has one of the world’s largest militaries and has consistently proved its military capability, by winning all wars against Pakistan, as well as giving a tough fight against Chinese aggression, which no other nation has done in recent years. India’s peaceful and neutral history has made it the most favoured country for any world conflict negotiation. This has recently been proved in the Ukraine-Russia conflict where India has played a crucial role in mitigating the conflict between both countries through different dialogues such as SCO.
This shows that the rise of India in Geo-Politics is eminent. India should continue to strengthen its relations with all the major countries, and cement new alliances. Unfortunately, due to a historic error, India lost its seat in the UNSC to China ( even though India was offered the seat first). Today, India deserves its rightful position, and India must get a seat in UNSC along with Japan and Germany. This is crucial for world peace and effective collaboration.
