Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

What is the effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests? Read to know more.

The image of India in the Western world has altered radically over the past decades.

This is due to the cumulative effect of high economic growth, steady integration with the international market economy, the successful introduction of new technologies and communications, and more importantly its foreign policy.

The current situation in the International Arena

We are living in such a situation where the US is losing its sheen and China is enhancing its agenda of establishing hegemony in the world.

In the year 2020, a black swan of COVID arrived which impacted the momentum of globalization, and supply chains.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also played a major role in today’s geopolitical situation.

The Russia-Ukraine war has created a divide where one side is led by the US and another one is aligned with Russia and China.

While the entire world’s attention was on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, China started its own game, trying to unify Taiwan with its mainland. Taiwan has also become a focal point between the US and China.

Effect of policies and politics of the world on India

Globalization helps developing countries deal with the rest of the world and increase their economic growth, solving the poverty problems in their country. In the past, developing countries were not able to tap into the world economy due to trade barriers. They cannot share the same economic growth that developed countries have.

However, with globalization, the World Bank and International Management encourage developing countries to go through market reforms and radical changes through large loans. Many developing nations began to take steps to open their markets by removing tariffs and freeing up their economies.

The developed countries were able to invest in the developing nations, creating job opportunities for the poor people. For example, rapid growth in India and China has caused world poverty to decrease.

China and India’s development strategies

China and India have become global economic powers. Even at the market exchange rate, China overtook Japan in 2010 as the second-largest economy. China’s trade and financial activities, India’s emergence as a technology and innovation hub, and both countries’ commerce and investment interactions with other developing nations have been covered extensively in all forms of media.

They are regarded as economic and political drivers of the international economy, particularly in the trade arena and global governance. Their economic engagement with developing countries and regions entails interactions in the areas of labor, human rights, international relations, security, and environmental sustainability.

The potential threats are mostly associated with trade and financial flows and with the social and political implications of China’s financial outflows. Nevertheless, amid the recent global economic crises, China and India’s demand for developing country goods proved to be a cushion to the declining flows of resources from advanced nations.

China and India influence global economic and political dynamics and can provide alternative sources of development assistance for developing countries. They can also provide several potential lessons for other developing countries, three of which are highlighted in this article: absorption of surplus labour, the raising of domestic and foreign investment, and support for R&D.

India’s stand on the Russia-Ukraine crisis

India’s response to the Ukraine crisis and the engaging geopolitical issues have unfolded a new chapter of foreign policy. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war on February 24, India has emphasized the need for diplomacy and dialogue while defending its independent stand, which prioritizes the country’s energy and food security.

Read: India-Russia Relations

India’s foreign policy towards China and Pakistan

In the past decade, the world has also seen a change in India’s stand against Pakistan and China. India is the only one in South Asia which is standing strong still against its Belt and Road Initiative since 2014.

Also, India has made its position very clear about the border-sharing area. In the Galwan clash in 2020, India had given a strong reply to China. India’s revamped foreign policy has even given China a shockwave.

India banned 59 Chinese mobile applications including the widely-used social media platforms such as TikTok, WeChat, and Helo keeping in view the threat to the nation’s sovereignty and security. The majority of the apps banned in the June 29, 2020 order were red-flagged by intelligence agencies over concerns that they were collecting user data and possibly also sending them “outside”.

• This action came after 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese soldiers were killed during violent clashes in Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh amid border tensions with China. Standing like the “Great Wall of China” India clears the clouds of doubts over its defence capabilities and also that New Delhi would stand idle.

India is joining hands with various countries through QUAD, G20, BRICS, RIC, ASEAN, 12U2, SAARC plus, and many more to stand against China’s ambitious goal of achieving its hegemony. It may seem like the old style of meandering but actually, India promotes its priorities in a much more direct manner.

India growing closer to small island countries

India’s foreign policy is no longer paying attention to just developed nations like the US and Russia but also the small island countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Initiative for the Resilient Island States (IRIS) for developing the infrastructure of small island nations, saying it gives new hope, new confidence, and satisfaction in doing something for the most vulnerable countries.

Read: India-Pacific Islands relations

India and G-20 presidency

India officially assumed the G20 presidency on December 1 with an agenda to achieve like here where the country’s agenda will be cooperation for sustainable and equitable development for shared global peace and prosperity and capacity building to face emerging global challenges.

At the closing ceremony of the G20 Summit in Indonesia, PM Modi said that India’s presidency will be ” inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action-oriented.

Effect of policies and politics of developing nations on India

The South Asian region is also full of contradictions, disparities, and paradoxes. In the post-colonial period. South Asia has been a theatre of bloody inter-state as well as civil wars, it has witnessed liberation movements, nuclear rivalry, and military dictatorships and continues to suffer from insurgencies, religious fundamentalism, and terrorism, besides serious problems associated with drugs and human trafficking.

The region also has the dubious distinction of having over 540mn people who earn less than $ 1.25 a day and account for 44% of the developing world’s poor. The region has produced several powerful female leaders and yet in the overall much remains to be done for the empowerment of women.

On the barometer of religious tolerance, the constituent countries range anywhere between flexible secular-minded, and rigidly fundamentalist.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has remained in existence for over 27 years; yet South Asia is considered the least integrated of the global regions; this is despite the stipulation in its Charter that “bilateral and contentious issues shall be excluded” from its deliberations, thus making it possible to put the contentious issues on the back burner and focus on areas of possible cooperation.

On the positive side, the region has been registering healthy growth (an average of 6% per annum) during the past several years. Also, democratic forms of governance (however flawed and feeble) are beginning to gain some ground in most parts of the region. Where does India stand in this rather volatile region? India’s position is unique in more than one sense.

As a matter of an interesting geographic factor, India shares borders with all other South Asian nations whereas no other South Asian nation (except Afghanistan and Pakistan) shares borders with any other South Asian nation. Notwithstanding some shortcomings, democracy and the rule of law as instruments of political governance are well entrenched in India. The transfer of power has been more or less peaceful and transparent.

In relative terms, India can be arguably considered the most stable country in the region, moving ahead on the fast tracks of development, even though the growth has of late slowed down. Further in terms of its population, territory, GDP, image as an emerging world economy and a responsible de-facto nuclear State, and as a country that is destined to play a larger role in the international arena, and also for several other reasons, India stands apart amongst the bunch of other South Asian countries.

India can be said to dwarf others in the South Asian region which in turn has created misperceptions about India and its intention. There are unjustified and erroneous perceptions about India floating around in the region: “Big Brother bullying the smaller neighbor”: “India treats its neighbors as a neglected backyard” etc. etc.

There is no justified explanation for the “trust deficit”. On top of it, there are vested interests and lobbies for whom being anti-Indian is synonymous with being a patriot and nationalist. And then there are strong institutions within the framework of a more or less failed and rogue State in the neighbourhood (Pakistan) which would like to see relations with India in a state of perpetual suspension. India’s motives are suspected even in cases of innocent proposals for economic cooperation which would lead to win-win situations.

Article written by Aseem Muhammed