Now, India seeks to expand its sphere of influence into South China Sea

BY S VENKAT NARAYAN,

Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, April 17:

India’s neighbourhood stretches beyond the Straits of Malacca in the east and the Gulf of Aden in the west. But the Indo-Pacific concept overcomes artificial fault-lines imposed in the post-World War II era, External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said here on Wednesday.

The minister’s formulation expands India’s intended sphere of influence into the South China Sea as a theatre of Indian foreign policy.

In a trilateral discussion with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne at the Raisina Dialogue, Jaishankar described India’s new view of its role as a “return to history.” This places the country’s neighbourhood across a greater swathe of the globe, he added.

Jaishankar’s remarks signal a desire to break out of India’s own definition of its ‘strategic backyard’ or extended neighbourhood that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had articulated back in 2000: of stretching between the Straits of Malacca and the Gulf of Aden.

The formulation, though presented in terms of historical connections, is likely to raise a few eyebrows in Beijing. China not only sees its immediate neighbourhood, but the entire Asia-Pacific, as its strategic zone.

Jaishankar pointed out that global multilateral regimes are not delivering, security alliances do not always work and bilateral relationships are falling short. In other words, the present system of global governance may have outlived its usefulness.

What he left unsaid is that the rise of China, India and other powers as well as the relative decline of the West has placed strains on the multilateral system, and it is important to rewrite it to reflect current realities.

Jaishankar said the world is moving to plurilaterals or mini laterals: smaller groups coming together with shared interests, shared goals and natural complementarities in their structures like the Quad, the four-nation compact comprising India, the US, Japan and Australia.

“Multilateralism has fallen short. And bilateral delivery is not what it used to be. World moving towards multipolarity, rebalancing and plurilateralism. Shared values and comforts are creating new combinations. Will not fall for mind games,” he tweeted.

The three ministers were to hold an in-person trilateral dialogue on the side-lines of the Raisina Dialogue. But that was postponed because the conclave went virtual in the light of India’s steep Covid-19 surge.

While France is not a member of the Quad, the India-France-Australia trilateral is an extension of the Quad, given that France is a big player in the Indo-Pacific, as a resident power, with territories in its control.

Answering a question on the importance of Indo-Pacific, Jaishankar said it is a historical reality in a more seamless world, as evidenced by the old trading routes that stretched from the western Pacific to the Mediterranean.

“Indo-Pacific is a strong message. India will not be boxed between Malacca Strait and the Gulf of Aden. Our interests and activities go way beyond. Australia and France are part of that canvas. It’s a return to history,” he declared.

“What broke this were empires and the politics of post-World War II. Today, because of rebalancing and multipolarity, they are all coming back together,” he added.

Emphasising the centrality of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Indo-Pacific, Jaishankar pushed back against the Chinese accusation of the Quad as an Asian NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation).

In the past few meetings, he said, Quad discussions focused on climate, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), vaccines, resilient supply chains, emerging technologies and maritime security.