11/05/2020 - International Relations

KEY POINTS

·         Indian Prime Minister video address to a summit of the non-aligned nations has generated criticism as well as commendation. Both sides, however, miss the recent evolution of the Indian thinking on the NAM.

·         The new interest is not a throwback to seeing the NAM as an anti-Western ideological crusade. Nor is it a pretence of valuing the movement but treating it as a ritual to be performed every three years.

·         A closer look at the Modi government’s foreign policy actions reveals a three-fold rationale for intensifying engagement with the NAM.

·         As the conflict between the world’s two most important powers envelops all dimensions of international society, India has every reason to try and preserve some political space in between the two .

·         In the last few years, Delhi paid lip-service to the NAM but devoted a lot of diplomatic energy to forums like BRICS. Given the Russian and Chinese leadership of BRICS, Delhi inevitably began to tamely echo the international positions of Moscow and Beijing rather than represent voices of the Global South.

·         Finally, as a nation seeking to become an independent pole in global affairs, India could do more with forums like the NAM in mobilising support on issues of interest to Delhi.

·         An independent Indian line backed by strong support within the NAM can make a big difference to the outcomes of the impending contentions at the World Health Assembly later this month on reviewing the WHO’s performance during the COVID crisis.

NAM is a relic of the Cold War, but we must also acknowledge that a new Cold War is beginning to unfold, this time between the US and China. 

Thus, India's focus will be back on the NAM — a core collective of middle powers of the world — to play a balancing role.

>>> India’s renewed engagement on Non-Alignment movement remains a critical forum :

- hint at a tactical move in India's foreign policy from its “non-aligned past” to being “an aligned state today.”

- to become an independent pole in global affairs

- focus on a wider international audience asNAM has 120 permanent members 

- on promoting global cooperation in combating COVID-19

- referred to the importance of “free society” and India’s “democracy” in the fight against the corona crisis 

- positioned India as the group’s leader owing to its democratic values and the size of its population and economy. 

- stratigically important as it gives a leadership role to India in the world’s largest multilateral organization 

- as the world expects the emergence of a new global order in the aftermath of COVID-19, emerging middle powers like India are set to play an important role.

>>> Conclusion :

India's diplomacy during the ongoing pandemic suggests that it has been quick to recognize the changing global dynamics.  It will be imperative for India's foreign policy to remain consistent with its renewed approach in the times to come.