12-28-2005, 03:23 AM
2005 - A year when foreign policy became top news
By Manish Chand, New Delhi: The year 2005 saw India get a sense of being a global power as foreign policy issues hogged prime time news and passionate debates were held over its nuclear energy deal with the US that signalled a turning point in its global status.
In tune with this growing self-image, India made the strongest-ever pitch for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
"The UN must reflect contemporary global realities," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said during his address to the US Congress in July this year. The point was taken note by the Permanent Five of the Security Council - the US, Russia, Britain, France and China - the world's most exclusive club, and although the status quoists may have managed to prevail for now, there was a growing feeling that it's only a matter of time before India took its place at the UN high table.
The biggest breakthrough was unquestionably the July 18 India-US civil nuclear energy agreement that took the strategic partnership between the world's largest and oldest democracies to a new level, and virtually sealed India's status as a nuclear power.
India's "impeccable credentials in nuclear non-proliferation", as Manmohan Singh tirelessly kept repeating throughout the year, was recognised the world over, with the Bush administration declaring its resolve to go the extra mile in persuading the US Congress to approve the deal.
Although there are still sceptical non-proliferation ayatollahs in Congress, the US administration has expressed the hope that it will be able to get Congress on board before President George W. Bush comes to India in the first quarter of next year.
Apart from sceptics in the US Congress who questioned the India-US nuclear deal, it created a raging debate in India with the Left parties - which support the ruling coalition from outside - and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party voicing anxieties about the perceived threat to national security.
Others insisted on asking larger ideological questions about the dangers of India moving too close to the US and in the process forgetting its old friends like Russia and also ideals of non-alignment.
These cynics got their opportunity when India, defying expectations, voted against Iran over its nuclear issue in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting in Vienna on Sep 24. The government's Leftist allies were the first to attack the vote by terming it a "betrayal of a friendly country" and the ideals of the non-aligned movement. A section of the media was equally harsh and savaged India's Iran vote as "capitulation" to American pressure and a surrender of national interests.
The beleaguered government, however, vehemently defended the vote, saying it was in fact its vigorous diplomacy that prevented Tehran's referral to the Security Council for its alleged violations of the NPT and provided time for diplomatic initiatives to resolve the issue within the ambit of the IAEA.
New Delhi's stand was vindicated when two months later the IAEA board of governors deferred the issue of Security Council referral and decided to give time to European Union negotiators to discuss a Russian-brokered proposal with Iran.
It wasn't just big-ticket issues like the India-US nuclear deal and the Iranian nuclear controversy that configured India's foreign policy in 2005. There were concrete achievements like the finalisation of guiding principles and political parameters by India and China to resolve their decades-old border row that has led to the forging of a strategic relationship of mutual empowerment rather than one of rivalry and confrontation.
The India-Pakistan peace process, despite serious provocations, remained on course and even registered significant progress in terms of greater connectivity and a willingness to resolve all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir - a territory over which the two countries have fought two wars.
The year started on a positive note with the launch of a trans-Kashmir bus on April 7 and the visit of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to watch cricket, but slowly the mood of high optimism became subdued as New Delhi raised afresh the issue of cross-border terror.
The Oct 29 blasts in the Indian capital raised suspicions of "external linkages", but the two sides showed restraint and went ahead with "quake diplomacy" to open points along the Line of Control to help victims of the Oct 8 quake that killed over 70,000 in Pakistan and injured thousands.
In the end, a flurry of talks on various issues, including trade, aviation and nuclear confidence building measures, kept the momentum of the peace process with two more buses - the Lahore-Amritsar and the Nankana Sahib-Amritsar bus services - finalised to connect people of the two countries.
India's neigbourhood, however, remained volatile and full of unpredictable developments that kept South Block mandarins on their toes. The Feb 1 coup in Nepal followed by King Gyanendra's power games, the resurgence of fundamentalism in Bangladesh and the anti-India mindset it embodies and the continuing turmoil in Sri Lanka that became all too visible after the assassination of its foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar were some troubling developments that called for a fresh appraisal of India's neighbourhood policy.
New Delhi's advocacy of South Asian integration came into play at the Nov 12-13 13th SAARC summit in Dhaka, but the summit ended by embroiling the grouping in new power games fuelled by a demand for China's inclusion.
But the lackadaisical functioning of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) did not dampen the ardour of New Delhi to engage with Central Asia - the new hub of oil diplomacy - and with East Asia, an economically vibrant region with some of the world's fastest growing economies.
Manmohan Singh's vision of an Asian community, enunciated at the first East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, added substance to prophecies about an Asian century in which India, along with China, is set to play a defining role.
http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action...s&id=73675
By Manish Chand, New Delhi: The year 2005 saw India get a sense of being a global power as foreign policy issues hogged prime time news and passionate debates were held over its nuclear energy deal with the US that signalled a turning point in its global status.
In tune with this growing self-image, India made the strongest-ever pitch for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
"The UN must reflect contemporary global realities," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said during his address to the US Congress in July this year. The point was taken note by the Permanent Five of the Security Council - the US, Russia, Britain, France and China - the world's most exclusive club, and although the status quoists may have managed to prevail for now, there was a growing feeling that it's only a matter of time before India took its place at the UN high table.
The biggest breakthrough was unquestionably the July 18 India-US civil nuclear energy agreement that took the strategic partnership between the world's largest and oldest democracies to a new level, and virtually sealed India's status as a nuclear power.
India's "impeccable credentials in nuclear non-proliferation", as Manmohan Singh tirelessly kept repeating throughout the year, was recognised the world over, with the Bush administration declaring its resolve to go the extra mile in persuading the US Congress to approve the deal.
Although there are still sceptical non-proliferation ayatollahs in Congress, the US administration has expressed the hope that it will be able to get Congress on board before President George W. Bush comes to India in the first quarter of next year.
Apart from sceptics in the US Congress who questioned the India-US nuclear deal, it created a raging debate in India with the Left parties - which support the ruling coalition from outside - and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party voicing anxieties about the perceived threat to national security.
Others insisted on asking larger ideological questions about the dangers of India moving too close to the US and in the process forgetting its old friends like Russia and also ideals of non-alignment.
These cynics got their opportunity when India, defying expectations, voted against Iran over its nuclear issue in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting in Vienna on Sep 24. The government's Leftist allies were the first to attack the vote by terming it a "betrayal of a friendly country" and the ideals of the non-aligned movement. A section of the media was equally harsh and savaged India's Iran vote as "capitulation" to American pressure and a surrender of national interests.
The beleaguered government, however, vehemently defended the vote, saying it was in fact its vigorous diplomacy that prevented Tehran's referral to the Security Council for its alleged violations of the NPT and provided time for diplomatic initiatives to resolve the issue within the ambit of the IAEA.
New Delhi's stand was vindicated when two months later the IAEA board of governors deferred the issue of Security Council referral and decided to give time to European Union negotiators to discuss a Russian-brokered proposal with Iran.
It wasn't just big-ticket issues like the India-US nuclear deal and the Iranian nuclear controversy that configured India's foreign policy in 2005. There were concrete achievements like the finalisation of guiding principles and political parameters by India and China to resolve their decades-old border row that has led to the forging of a strategic relationship of mutual empowerment rather than one of rivalry and confrontation.
The India-Pakistan peace process, despite serious provocations, remained on course and even registered significant progress in terms of greater connectivity and a willingness to resolve all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir - a territory over which the two countries have fought two wars.
The year started on a positive note with the launch of a trans-Kashmir bus on April 7 and the visit of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to watch cricket, but slowly the mood of high optimism became subdued as New Delhi raised afresh the issue of cross-border terror.
The Oct 29 blasts in the Indian capital raised suspicions of "external linkages", but the two sides showed restraint and went ahead with "quake diplomacy" to open points along the Line of Control to help victims of the Oct 8 quake that killed over 70,000 in Pakistan and injured thousands.
In the end, a flurry of talks on various issues, including trade, aviation and nuclear confidence building measures, kept the momentum of the peace process with two more buses - the Lahore-Amritsar and the Nankana Sahib-Amritsar bus services - finalised to connect people of the two countries.
India's neigbourhood, however, remained volatile and full of unpredictable developments that kept South Block mandarins on their toes. The Feb 1 coup in Nepal followed by King Gyanendra's power games, the resurgence of fundamentalism in Bangladesh and the anti-India mindset it embodies and the continuing turmoil in Sri Lanka that became all too visible after the assassination of its foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar were some troubling developments that called for a fresh appraisal of India's neighbourhood policy.
New Delhi's advocacy of South Asian integration came into play at the Nov 12-13 13th SAARC summit in Dhaka, but the summit ended by embroiling the grouping in new power games fuelled by a demand for China's inclusion.
But the lackadaisical functioning of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) did not dampen the ardour of New Delhi to engage with Central Asia - the new hub of oil diplomacy - and with East Asia, an economically vibrant region with some of the world's fastest growing economies.
Manmohan Singh's vision of an Asian community, enunciated at the first East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, added substance to prophecies about an Asian century in which India, along with China, is set to play a defining role.
http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action...s&id=73675