Any visualisation of India’s global role must begin in our immediate neighbourhood because situational factors in that environment affect our internal security and, therefore, merit our greatest attention. The Indian economy, with its rapid growth and the impact this exerts beyond our borders, is fast becoming an anchoring element in the region.
We want to create an economic environment with our neighbours so that we can work together to fulfil our common objectives of economic development. A peaceful neighbourhood is mandatory for the realisation of our own vision of economic growth.
Today, with sustained high economic growth rates over the past decade, India is in a better position to offer a significant stake to our neighbours in our own prosperity and growth. We have put forward proposals multilaterally within the framework of the Saarc, where we have assumed asymmetric responsibilities.
However, our vision of an enhanced South-Asian cooperation for development is challenged by violent extremism and terrorism, which originates in our region and finds sustenance and sanctuary there. Open democratic societies like India face particular challenges in combating the threat of terrorism. It is also clear that the threat from terrorism cannot be dealt with through national efforts alone.
It is time that the international community works towards early adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism that was tabled at the UN over a decade ago in 1996. We must act jointly and with determination to meet the challenges posed by terrorism and to defend the values of pluralism, freedom, peaceful co-existence and the rule of law.
Our relationship with Pakistan has been complicated by the issue of terrorism and the need for Pakistan to take ameliorative action to eradicate terrorism against India. Despite this threat, we understand well the Kautilyan advice that a great power loses stature if it remains bogged down in neighbourhood entanglements.
We are determined to persevere in our dialogue with Pakistan in order to resolve outstanding issues so that our region will be stable, and so that the rationale of economic development in an atmosphere of peace, for all of South Asia, remains our steadfast goal.
Let me briefly also speak about Afghanistan. We are supportive of the US efforts to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and to bring stability there. We have a direct interest in Afghanistan, not because we see it as a theatre of rivalry with Pakistan but because of the growing fusion of terrorist groups that operate from Afghanistan and Pakistan and their activities in India.
Indian assistance to Afghanistan amounting to over $1.3 billion has helped build vital civil infrastructure, develop human resources and capacity in several areas, which has received wide appreciation of the Afghan people. We stand by this commitment despite the grave threat under which our personnel and people are working in Afghanistan.
China is our largest neighbour and the rise of China is a reality that faces the entire world today. The question asked is whether our relationship with China will be one dominated by increasing competition for influence and for resources as our economic needs grow. I believe the proposition should not be exaggerated in a way that it overshadows all attempts to rationalise the relationship between India and China.
The reality is that India and China have worked hard over the last two decades to deepen dialogue and bilateral relations in a number of fields. Peace and tranquility have prevailed in the India-China border areas, despite the unsettled boundary question. Our trade with China is growing faster than that with any other country. As our Prime Minister has said, India and China will continue to grow, simultaneously, and our policies will have to cater to this emerging reality.
China’s growing ability to project its military strength, its rapid military modernisation, and its very visible economic capabilities, introduce a new calculus in the security situation in our region. We are also alert to the continuing and close security relationship between China and Pakistan.
These factors serve to further underscore the complexity of the India-China equation, today.
Excerpts from Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao’s address at Harvard University on ‘India’s Global Role’, on September 20
