India's foreign Policy

I would like to draw the attention of the public on the necessity to redefine India's foreign policy in the changing world order.

As the shifting world order signals the rise of another cold war between the US and China, an intuition on India's side to redefine its global stance is need of the hour. Our lack of intellectual investment in forming a long-term strategy in the global politics has put Indian leadership under Damocles' sword. The anti-bloc mindset or the Non-Alignment India pursued after the independence should be kept intact regardless of the growing US pressure on India to work on an Indo-Pacific alliance. After the recent Chinese aggression, the apprehension that India may align with the US to counter Chinese assertion has resulted in the dropping of India by Iran from the Chabahar-Zahedan Railway Project. India must balance itself in the global politics to reap the benefits from its erstwhile Non-Alignment Policy. Similarly, the more we tilt towards the US the more we distance ourselves from Russia. The military and technological dependence on Russia prevents India from abandoning the old friend. Indian leadership must maintain its strategic autonomy which can only be realized if we keep ourselves away from any particular bloc. Meanwhile, as there is a commonality of interests between India and the US, the naval exercise (Passex) of Indian Navy with American USS Nimitz and upcoming Malabar exercise is very appreciative. But a formal bloc will unnecessarily jeopardize India's delicate position in the global anarchy.

Gunjan Das,

(gunjn2001@gmail.com)