Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said strained ties between India and Pakistan have been coming in the way of development of South Asian region.
He also said the 21st century will be the era of rise of China and India and during this period "cooperation and competition" will go hand in hand.
"Strained ties between India and Pakistan have been a major factor in preventing growth of cooperative regional development strategies in South Asia," Singh said in his 25-minute speech at the conference organised by Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID) here.
Also Read
Singh also said that "there will be challenges posed by Pakistan's current internal situation and the future situation in Afghanistan. Geo-politics of the Indian Ocean region will also be the fulcrum of India's foreign policy."
He said that the primary focus of India's foreign policy has to remain in the realm of economic diplomacy.
Singh said,"In south Asia our attempts to build on our shared heritage and culture have often been impeded by geo-politics and by our failure to overcome the challenge of geographical and economic asymmetry.
"Proximity and connectivity that should have been the foundation of building strong economic linkages to build SAARC as another ASEAN have eluded the nations of south Asia...," he said.
Singh said that scholars of south Asia need to ponder as to why "we in south Asia move so slowly in matters of strengthening trade and infrastructure linkages when the benefits to our people and governments are so obvious?".
He said that "India is on the threshold of change, provided the right policies are adopted".
"Domestic reforms are the key to putting India on a higher growth path and giving the country economic heft to conduct a pro-active foreign policy," the veteran Congress leader said.
He said that this century will belongs to China and India.
"21st century will be the era of rise of China and India. As this happens, cooperation and competition will go hand in hand. We are already witnessing several manifestations of these trends in South China sea and the Indo-Pacific region as a whole.
"The recent changes in Japan's Constitution giving more leeway for the deployment of Japanese defence forces abroad is yet another indicator of this trend," the former PM said.
Singh pointed out that for India, "it is an era of transition and consolidation".
"Inclusive economic growth remains the bedrock of our country's future. Infrastructure, education, development of skills, universal access to healthcare must be at the core of our national policies.
"Being a strong and diversified economy will provide the basis for India playing a more important global role. Hence the primary focus of India's foreign policy has to remain in the realm of economic diplomacy," Singh said.
