India’s Diplomatic Spectrum
The Indian public’s diplomatic mind space has been largely taken over by India-US relations on account of the comments, policies and actions of President Donald Trump. The reason for this is the impact of the Trump administration’s imposition of tariffs amounting to over 50% on Indian exports to the US. The tariffs are having an adverse impact on Indian exports and leading to some lay-offs in labour intensive export oriented businesses. It is good that the probability of serious trade talks has increased but it is still not entirely clear how the issue of Indian imports of Russian oil would be resolved; India has insisted that it will continue to purchase oil from Russia.
Despite this pre-occupation India’s diplomatic machinery has continued with the country’s global engagements. Within the last month India has had four Heads of Governments level bilateral summits. The Prime Ministers of Fiji, Singapore and Mauritius visited India while Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Japan prior to attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, China. Interestingly, all these interactions of Modi were with leaders of island countries. All were important for India’s immediate and long-term interests. These visits show that India’s diplomatic and political leadership has the capability to promote Indian interests even as it handles a difficult phase in India-US ties.
Each of these four visits which were significant in different ways can be discussed in the chronological order they occurred.
Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka visited India in August. He held talks with Modi on the 24th of that month. Rabuka has had a fascinating life and career in politics. He was an army officer who staged a coup in April 1987 against an elected government led by a native Fijian leader but which ethnic Fijians felt was dominated by ethnic Indians. This was especially unacceptable to the traditional ethnic Fijian chiefs who had dominated the country’s political life since Fiji became independent from Britain in 1970. They used Rabuka to oust the government and by the year’s end were again in power. India reacted very strongly against the coup though Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth countries did not. However, Rabuka took Fiji out of the group and declared it a Republic. The coup led to the migration of a number of ethnic Indians and a constitution was put in place which virtually ensured that political power would remain in ethnic Fijian hands.
Rabuka served as Prime Minister from 1992-97 and again in 2022. He is now therefore as Prime Minister for the third time. He has regretted his role in the first coup and is now obviously wanting greater depth to the country’s relations with India. On its part, India too is conscious of the need to build ties with the largest South Pacific islands country where China is making inroads. It is therefore good that Modi assured Rabuka that India will undertake a large programme of assistance to Fiji. This would also include the defence and security sectors.
India’s relations with Japan have become multi-faceted and the engagement is both bilateral and in the QUAD group. After the meeting with his Japanese counterpart on August 29 Modi said “Today, we have laid a strong foundation for a new and golden chapter in our Special Strategic and Global Partnership. We have set a roadmap for the next decade. Our vision focuses on investment, innovation, economic security, environment, technology, health, mobility, people-to-people ties, and state-prefecture cooperation. We have set a target of 10 trillion Yen investment from Japan in India over the next ten years. We will also give special attention to connecting Small and Medium Enterprises and Start-ups from both countries”. In a clear reference to China he added “India and Japan are fully committed towards a free, open, peaceful, prosperous, and rules-based Indo-Pacific”. The India-Japan relationship is of deep value to both countries.
Many in the ruling dispensation have admired Singapore’s progress for a long time. Over the past two decades Singapore has also looked upon India as a talent pool as well as a place to make investments. This was reflected during the Singapore Prime Ministers visit in early September. After his interaction with him Modi told the media of the mutual desire of the two countries to build firm and comprehensive ties. Indeed, he noted that Singapore was India’s largest trading partner in south-east Asia. But more importantly for India’s future he said; “Technology and innovation are strong pillars of our partnership. We have agreed to expand our collaboration in AI, quantum, and other digital technologies”. These areas are vital for India to achieve a developed status.
As India’s interests increase in the Indo-Pacific region Mauritius, along with Seychelles, will become more and more important for its maritime and security interests. With a large Indian ethnic community consisting of descendants of Indian indentured labour in the country, India has always maintained a close partnership with Mauritius since its independence in 1968. The politics of the islands’ country is in the hands of ethnic Indians who look to India though in recent decades they have other ambitions too. This is on account of their to emulate Singapore and Dubai. That is why there is need to constantly nourish the relationship. After meeting the Mauritius Prime Minister on September 16 Modi correctly said, “India and Mauritius are two nations, but our dreams and destiny are one”. He also did well to emphasise, “India remains fully committed to strengthening the security of Mauritius’s Exclusive Economic Zone, and enhancing its maritime capacity”.
