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Monday, Sep 11, 2006
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Showpiece of an independent foreign policy

N. Ravi

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's nine-day trip to Brasilia and Havana

Brasilia: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's nine-day trip to Brasilia and Havana is expected to serve as a showpiece of an independent foreign policy, according to officials accompanying him.

The United Progressive Alliance has in the last two years engaged with the United States, the European Union, Russia, the ASEAN and China. Yet, the bilateral talks with Brazil and the three-nation India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) summit in Brasilia as well as the non-aligned summit in Havana would be an engagement of a different type.

Not a Western virtue

The IBSA summit would bring together the largest democracies in the three continents that are also the pre-eminent regional players. The notion that democracy is a Western virtue and is not valued much by the developing countries would be called into question by the summit of countries representing 1.2 billion people. In addition, the three large economies have important complementary strengths that could be used to mutual advantage. Among them are Brazil's extraordinary resource endowments — it has enough iron ore reserves to meet the needs of the world for 500 years, for instance — Indian expertise in information technology and South Africa's experience in promoting tourism could offer useful lessons.

The idea of an IBSA Dialogue Forum was finalised at a meeting Prime Minister Vajpayee had with the Presidents of Brazil and South Africa on the margins of the G-8 summit in Evian in 2003. Though Brasilia would mark the first summit, there have been three annual meetings of Foreign Ministers forming the trilateral commission besides seven meetings at the level of Foreign Secretaries. Working groups have been formed on education, science and technology, tourism, trade and agriculture. Among the agreements to be signed at the summit will be the opening of air links among the three countries with code sharing arrangements among their carriers.

A shining example

That the forum has been able move quite fast in the three years since its formation prompted the Prime Minister to hold it out as "a shining example of South-South cooperation" in the remarks that he made while leaving for Brasilia. The focus of the summit is expected to be on issues of global concern including energy security, global terrorism and sustainable development. In addition to the IBSA summit, there will be a series of discussions on bilateral relations with Brazil. Already, the two nations are coordinating their positions on the negotiations at the World Trade Organisation.

Severest test

Indian diplomacy will be put to its severest test at the XIV Non-Aligned Summit, given the natural inclination of Cuba to turn the meet into a forum highly critical of the United States. The previous summit in Malaysia had already taken positions against the United States' unilateral inclinations, claimed right to humanitarian intervention and characterising some nations as belonging to an "axis of evil." The Havana summit is expected to reiterate the support of the non-aligned for the United Nations as the keeper of the international peace and push for the resolution of the Iran nuclear crisis within the International Atomic Energy Agency rather than at the United Nations Security Council or through unilateral action. In addition, the traditional concerns of the non-aligned, peace and universal disarmament, are also expected to be emphasised.

Revitalising NAM

The Indian effort at Havana would be to help the non-aligned movement "revitalise itself so as to pursue the shared interests of the member states in a transformed world," as Dr. Singh put it in his departure remarks. He is expected to stress the importance of the NAM members showing mutual support and solidarity in confronting the challenges of globalisation, particularly at the WTO negotiations. In addition, India would push the movement to take a stronger and more active position on the issue of global terrorism. The NAM had already addressed the issue at the earlier summit in Malaysia and came out with a formulation condemning terrorism as indefensible for any cause whatever, calling for a quick conclusion of an international convention on the issue but also noting that the underlying causes of terrorism need to be addressed. The third thrust area for India will be the issues of widespread hunger, poverty and disease.

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