New Delhi: Both Laos and Cambodia can see the difference between the way India under Modi is conducting its diplomacy and China under Xi, including within ASEAN.
While China and India has been seeking to break the fundamentally strong ties between India and its South Asian neighbours, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, assisted by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, has ensured the failure of such an effort by the PRC. Through an active diplomatic outreach, India has deepened its linkages across Southern Asia. This is the arc of territory which extends from the Middle East to Southeast Asia. During the summit held in Laos with ASEAN member states, the Prime Minister pointed out significantly that what was needed was not “expansionism but development”. In other words, that in India they would find a partner in opposing expansionism and in boosting development. Age-old interaction of the region with India and its culture was showcased by a spellbinding Laotian rendering of the Ramayana. Other versions of the timeless epic are regularly presented before audiences in other countries within ASEAN such as Indonesia and Cambodia. What has supercharged the revival of such cultural and other links since 2014 is the stress placed by PM Modi in his interactions with ASEAN leaders on the imperative of working together to ensure a pathway to progress with 21st century characteristics. In similar fashion, countries to the west of India, including those in the GCC, have been the focus of similar attention. Here again, unlike what takes place with a neighbour of India, the stress is not on Zero Sum outcomes in which one side gets all while the other side gets nothing, but on Win Win outcomes where both sides benefit.
As a consequence of de facto pursuing a Zero Sum strategy towards other countries, in the geopolitical contest now taking place that is termed Cold War 2.0, new opportunities for development, especially in the sphere of technology and services, have opened up for India. Technology development has been emphasised, as well as the need to speed up work on connectivity projects such as the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). To this is added collaboration in ensuring more facilities for better healthcare and education. Both the Middle East as well as Southeast Asia have several fields of activity where a partnership with India makes a difference where transformation to 21st century needs and opportunities is concerned. The theme of PM Modi is development together. Southern Asia and India are natural partners, and such a reality is the foundation on which diplomacy by India is being conducted.
Both in Laos as well as in Cambodia, two ASEAN member states that are conventionally considered under Beijing’s influence, both leaders as well as the population in general see the difference between the way India under Modi is conducting its diplomacy and China under Xi, including within ASEAN. Whether it be the Philippines or other countries, the PRC wants and where possible grabs space outside its legal jurisdiction, in contrast to India. The firm stand taken by Modi against expansionism by one power against another stands in contrast to the efforts being made by China to force ASEAN to accept the ASEAN Sea (also called the South China Sea) as being in effect a Chinese lake. Such a stance is in defiance of international protocols and is completely opposed to the good neighbourly policy of India.
Where important countries to the west of India such as Saudi Arabia are concerned, the disrespectful and unwise manner in which Joe Biden before assumption of the US Presidency in 2017 characterised personages no less than the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia himself has hurt US influence substantially. Given Biden’s earlier remarks, it ought not to be a surprise that Riyadh has refused to follow its longstanding policy of following the US lead in matters of international significance, or that Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) has cultivated relations with President Putin of the Russian Federation, who in effect is regarded within the White House as Enemy Number One, although Cold War 2.0 has made such a calculation destructive to US interests. Instead of weaning Moscow from Beijing, Washington has joined hands with its European allies to bring that important capital closer to Beijing. India, a long standing friend of Saudi Arabia, has from the start of the Modi government shown due courtesy to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Among the reasons is the fact that in common with the leaders of countries such as the UAE and Egypt, MBS has followed a policy that has ensured a moving away from Kingdom’s earlier policy of an alliance with the Wahhabis, a policy that the House of Saud had before MBS adopted since its inception as the ruling family in Saudi Arabia.
PM Modi himself attended the ASEAN Summit in Laos, while External Affairs Minister Jaishankar is likely to attend the SCO Summit in Pakistan. Whether it be BRICS or the SCO, such formations cannot be ignored, and PM Modi has followed a policy of greater involvement of India in their deliberations. He has placed significant emphasis on combating terrorism, an issue that is certain to be raised by EAM Jaishankar if he goes to the SCO meeting. Where there is congruence on issues, India will go forward with multilateral, bilateral or plurilateral linkages with other countries. It is noteworthy that trade with Russia has gone up, even while its share of defence exports to India have been going down. At the same time, the US is emerging as the most important partner in defence trade. Such ties are expected to rise substantially once a new administration headed by the newly elected President of the US takes office in Washington on January 20, 2025, given the common interest both sides have in ensuring that the democracies prevail in Cold War 2.0, which has since the 1990s replaced Cold War 1.0 with the Soviet Union, an entity that imploded in 1991
China under Xi has followed a Zero Sum policy in its interaction with other countries while claiming the opposite. In Balochistan, for example, the abundant mineral resources of that territory are being drained away for the benefit of Chinese entities. through road and mining projects, a factor that has led to rebellion against the Pakistan government, a government that has allowed itself to be subservient to the interests of an outside power at the expense of its own people. In contrast, India led by PM Modi has followed a Win Win policy towards other countries. As a consequence, ties with India have improved substantially across Southern Asia, and are set for even greater growth.