Why Bharat Matters

by S. Jaishankar

A nationalist outlook will naturally produce a nationalist diplomacy, and it is something that the world will need to get used to.

Economic priorities at home will always be a powerful driver of policies abroad.

With Israel and Palestine, we have ended practising a hyphenation that we resented when applied to us.

The diplomacy of a major country is very arduous, even more so when it is a rising power.

What the public sees is an elegant swan; underneath, there is furious paddling.

International relations for the last quarter of the century have been dominated by five phenomena: globalization, rebalancing, multipolarity, impact of technology and the games that nations have always played.

Re-globalization in an open-ended techade will call for trusted collaborations of a kind that will be a new experience for all of us.

At the end of the day, foreign policy is very much about clinically assessing the global landscape and calculating one’s prospects.

But no nation plans or acts in a vacuum. It must have a vision for itself, an architecture in mind and objectives to attain.

The Ramayana, which is the earlier one, has purity of thought and nobility of conduct as its central message. In contrast, the Mahabharata is much more a chronicle of human frailty and pursuance of ambition.

As Rama prepares a campaign to rescue her, a number of stratagems emerge, all of which have found their way into folklore.

10-day battle in which Rama is ultimately successful is not without its moments of anxiety. The role of Hanuman as his devotee, emissary, resource person and adviser is particularly noteworthy.

there are also occasions of self-interest, where the justification for an action stems from a particular need. Lord Rama’s intervention in the battle between the monkey-kings Vali and Sugriva, explained at length later, is a case in point.

Life is rarely a black-and-white choice, and appreciating the complexities of decision-making is an essential part of grasping international relations. A major rising power, however, needs more than just an accurate landscape analysis and the ability to act on it. It must, first of all, be confident of its own values and beliefs and base its policies on those convictions. These will draw from the totality of its culture, heritage and traditions. That is why India can only rise when it is truly Bharat.

Our overall posture does radiate the message that India will no longer be a punching bag in the politics of others.

Foreign commercial policy is being tasked to obtain access to markets and lower trade barriers. This can be done in an orthodox way but hastened through negotiated understandings, including free-trade agreements (FTAs) and global supply chains.

if economic choices are divorced from a strategic context, it could lead the country down a very dangerous path.

Real growth is not only about GDP increase; it is equally about infrastructure, supply chains, skills, finance and socio-economic progress.

Typically, people tend to think of diplomacy just as mediation. But in reality, there is so much more to it, including the ability to read competitors, allies and the landscape correctly.

Saudi Arabia’s greater focus on Asia also offers openings for India. This includes the IMEC initiative with possibilities of cooperation in connectivity, logistics and energy.

sanguine

Economic integration and dependency may now become more determining factors in the emergence of a new order. The possibility of alternatives should not be discounted.

The 3F (food, fuel and fertilizer) insecurity has been aggravated by trade and tourism disruptions.

be it in goods movement, ports or power generation.

India’s goal is not of moving the needle in the direction of autarky but, instead, to create the capabilities that would make it a serious player at a global level.

While addressing practical challenges to India’s progress, much thought has also been given to branding India in a manner reflecting the rise of a civilizational state.

We are all not just creatures of habits but followers of norms and believers of storylines.

The US was, of course, an overwhelming presence, but one long regarded with suspicion due to our ideological proclivities as much as strategic calculations.

While Africa has been the main focus of lines of credit and grant assistance, India’s growing footprint in Latin America is also worth noting.

Its expanding middle class are natural customers for Indian products in pharmaceuticals and vehicles.

Currently, India is among the top five trade partners of both Brazil and Argentina.

In its own way, the Ramayana is also a tale of the power of comfort and convergence as it is of the importance of global good.

Because willy-nilly, the two countries will have much more to do with each other in the times to come.

Sometimes, situations get worse before getting better.

India is establishing IT labs in these Pacific Island societies and promoting solar electrification. Women solar engineers called Solar Mamas have also been trained.

Controlling the narrative is always a fight and technology has made it far more complex.

Swimming upstream is the karma of all rising powers.

globalization without a strategy is like driving without a destination.

Building Bharat is not a matter of falling back on our past; it is primarily about re-imagining our future.

In the final analysis, hard power will always score over soft power.

The more we do, the more we believe we can do.

the nature of the partners will depend on the nature of the problem.

A civilizational state is once again regaining its place in the comity of nations. It is doing so in a unique way, encouraging partnerships through its responsibilities, contributions and accomplishments.