Amidst growing criticism in the region for postponing the SAARC summit in Dhaka and just a day before the External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh’s visit to Pakistan, Indian foreign secretary Shyam Saran delivered a policy address on India and its neighbours at India International Centre . At the outset he demanded that all the neighbours should adopt a common security doctrine: “We must also recognize, regrettable though this may be, that the countries of South Asia, while occupying the same geographical space, do not have a shared security perception and, hence, a common security doctrine. This is different from EU or ASEAN. In South Asia, at least some of the States perceive security threats as arising from within the region.” But instead of focusing on this substantial issue and probing the reasons why India’s neighbours see India as a security threat, Mr. Saran comes out with a proposition to lure its neighbours: “O ur approach to SAARC was the only one logically sustainable -- we set aside our differing political and security perceptions for the time being, and focus attention on economic cooperation.” Will this approach work?
Beneath Shyam Saran’s proposal lie the naked ambitions of the Indian big bourgeoisie to make SAARC a common market under its domination and exploit its neighbours more intensely. Not a word about the major bilateral issues with Pakistan, not a word about the “core issue” of autonomy to Kashmir; India wants to brush all these under the carpet and stress only “cross-border economic linkages”. The earlier bullying with the clamour about “cross-border terrorism” has now given place to the enticement with “cross-border economic linkages”. Saran also holds out a threat: “ If there continues to be a resistance to such linkages within the region, even while seeking to promote linkages outside the region, if the thrust of initiatives of some of the members is seen to be patently hostile to India or motivated by a desire to contain India in some way, SAARC would continue to lack substance and energy.” Despite 20 long years of its existence, SAARC continues to be a mere consultative body and has not taken up a single collaborative venture and Saran is not willing to examine India’s role in this, especially its inability to inspire confidence among its neighbours. Rather India continues to adopt a sermonising and threatening tone towards its neighbours as is clear from Shyam Saran’s address.
Foreign Secretary Saran said in the speech arranged by Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis that the challenge for Indian diplomacy lies in "convincing our neighbours that India is an opportunity, not a threat, that far from being besieged by India, they have a vast, productive hinterland that would give their economies far greater opportunities for growth than if they were to rely on their domestic markets alone". The Indian bourgeoisie hungrily eyes the SAARC market of 1.3 billion people and desperately wants a common market but the intra-regional trade accounts for only 5% of SAARC nations’ total trade. The South Asian Free-Trade Agreement (SAFTA) has remained a non-starter, mainly because of neighbours’ fears of India’s domination. Visitors to Sri Lanka and Nepal say that the shops in those countries are full of goods “Made in India” – from cosmetics to consumer durables. Most of the major Indian big business houses have major investments in Sri Lanka.
Indeed, if the region properly combines its regional economic complementarities then all the countries in the region can stand up to imperialism and multinationals and strengthen the regional economic self-reliance. But absolutely there is no move towards that. Rather India wants to penetrate the economies all the countries in the region as a junior partner of imperialist powers. All the big business houses have collaborations with multinationals; India’s regional ambitions have the blessings of imperialists and multinationals, and South Asian Regional Cooperation has never exhibited even an iota of anti-imperialism.
Politically too, India is joining hands with the US imperialism in supplying arms to the oppressive army in Nepal under the notorious monarchy and despite customary muted protests against the royal coup both the countries have not categorically refused arms supply to the killer army of Nepal.
Shyam Saran’s address also issued a blatant threat to its neighbours not to have any independent foreign policy: “Some members of SAARC actively seek association with countries outside the region or with regional or international organisations, in a barely disguised effort to 'counterbalance' India within the Association or to project SAARC as some kind of a regional dispute settlement mechanism.” He also set the terms for SAARC and said, “It should be clear to any observer that India would not like to see a SAARC in which some of its members perceive it as a vehicle primarily to countervail India or to seek to limit its room for manoeuvre”. He also said that being the largest and economically strongest country in the region, India was prepared to open its markets for neighbouring countries. Rather, being the biggest power in the region, it is primarily India’s responsibility to allay its neighbour’s fears and follow a consistent democratic approach in its regional relations.
-- BS