India seeks its place in the sun

KUALA LUMPUR: Indian Foreign Minister explains his country's targets and hurdles External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna has been raising the tempo with strategic speeches around the world as India attempts to place itself as a centre of power. Krishna: ‘We consider Malaysia a close friend and partner’ Appointed to the post fairly recently in 2009, the prominent 79-year-old politician from Karnataka is galvanising support from the international community for India's campaign for inclusion as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Indian officials already count the support of at least 120 countries and are confident of a UNSC reform by early 2012, although most others expect that it will be a long-drawn affair. “We will expand our outreach to other member states to convince them if they are not already convinced,'' Krishna told a meeting in Washington recently. The candidature of the world's largest democracy for a UNSC permanent seat was endorsed by US President Barack Obama during the latter's state visit to India last November. Besides his appetite for global engagement, Krishna, a former Chief Minister of Karnataka (1999-2004) and Governor of Maharashtra (2004-2008) has other delicate foreign policy scenarios to deal with and assess. Ministerial-level talks with Pakistan have only just resumed following the deadly Mumbai blasts in 2008 which India blames on Pakistani terrorists. And there is also the race for India to climb up the ranks of the world's most powerful nations. Krishna, who is in Kuala Lumpur for the 5th India-Malaysia Joint Commission Meeting, speaks to The Star on a wide-range of issues, such as its strategic relations with the US and Russia, a pending historic Ombudsman legislation, the inevitable India-China comparison and the high-priority his government attaches to its relations with Malaysia. 　 Can India rise to become the fourth most powerful nation by 2025, as your revised National Security Index suggests? Over the course of about 65 years, our country has emerged stronger. Our GDP has increased from low double digit in billion US dollars to over a trillion US dollars. Even as the population has grown about four times, we produce more than four times food grain than we produced in 1950. Hundreds of millions have been pulled out of poverty and illiteracy and the resultant death and disease. Sustained high growth since economic reforms and liberalisation introduced in the early 1990s has put India as the fourth largest economy in the world, behind the EU, US, China and Japan, on Purchasing Power Parity. As a result of these historical achievements, which are underpinned by the strength of our democratic institutions, we are well prepared to address our own developmental challenges and also to contribute to global peace and development. Rankings are secondary and only consequential to meeting these objectives well. It is also clear that in this century, there is a perceptible and growing shift in global power to Asia. When will your economic achievements match that of China's? We are aware of the stellar economic achievements of China which is now the second largest economy in the world. There is great admiration in India for China's economic achievements. However, I would like to clearly point out that India does not view its relations with China in a competitive construct. We are not in any kind of race with China. Both India and China place high priority on economic development amongst their national priorities. This is because each of us wants to raise the living standards of our people. India desires to eradicate hunger, illiteracy and disease. However, we have different political, social and economic systems in India as compared to China. Therefore, we will tread our own path towards inclusive economic growth and prosperity. We will work towards an economically vibrant, socially cohesive and politically plural India. India retains a security relationship with Russia and a strategic partnership with the United States. From the Indian perspective, how is this crucial in maintaining a proper balance of the international order? India has a strategic relationship with Russia, as it does with the United States, Britain, France and several other countries. These strategic partnerships help India to build on our common perceptions on major issues of international relations. Such cooperation is crucial for meeting the objectives of India's foreign policy, especially our desire to ensure a conducive atmosphere of peace and security in order to achieve strategic autonomy, external and internal security and the need for sustained and inclusive economic growth. The Indian Government recently succumbed to public outcry for legislation to create the Lokayukta, an Ombudsman that will guarantee accountability of its ruling class and politicians. How do you describe this development, coming after four decades of pressure from civil society? Our Government has always been responsive to the concerns of our citizens. This has been the essence of the functioning of India's parliamentary democracy since our Independence. The Government intends to introduce the Lokpal Bill in Parliament during the forthcoming Monsoon Session. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has said, “The fact that civil society and Government have joined hands to evolve a consensus to move this historic legislation augurs well for our democracy.” India's campaign to be included as a permanent member of the UN Security Council has received the support of the G4 and L69, with President Obama also endorsing your bid. But many say it is going to be a long, tedious process for India to join the UNSC elite club. Do you concur? The process of reform of the UN Security Council has been a long and arduous one. The issue of expansion of the Security Council to reflect geopolitical realities and to give voice and representation to countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean has been under consideration in the UN for almost 20 years. Over all these years, India, its G4 partners (Brazil, Germany and Japan) and other like-minded countries have ensured that this issue remains on top of the table in the UN. The recent initiatives taken by the G4 countries have imparted a new momentum to the process of Security Council reform. Their efforts resulted in the UN General Assembly's decision in September 2008 to launch inter-governmental negotiations in its informal plenary. In December 2009, the G4 and other like-minded countries again took initiative to ensure that the negotiations were text-based to record progress made in the course of negotiations. In inter-governmental negotiations, seven rounds of which have taken place so far, a majority of the member states expressed support for expansion of the Security Council in the permanent and non-permanent categories and improvement of the working methods of the Council. Many countries have expressed support for India's candidature for a permanent seat. As in any inter-governmental process involving important issues, the process of Security Council reform will take its time. India looks forward to working closely with Malaysia and other UN member states to take the process to its logical conclusion as early as possible. India is nuclear armed but your country has decided to lead global efforts for non-proliferation and universal and non-discriminatory global nuclear disarmament. How do you explain this? India has been consistent in its support for global, non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament and like Malaysia has promoted this objective as members of the Non-Aligned Movement. In 1988, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi presented an Action Plan for a Nuclear-Weapon Free and Non-Violent World. We remain committed to its vision and objectives. In fact, India is the only nuclear power which has supported the complete and global elimination of nuclear weapons within a time-bound framework. India supports global non-proliferation objectives. We believe that nuclear disarmament will enhance global security and can be achieved by a step-by-step process underwritten by a universal commitment and an agreed multilateral framework for achieving global, non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament in a verifiable manner. India and Malaysia should continue to lend their support for this noble objective. 　 In your own words, Pakistan is the “epicentre of terrorism.” Much delayed bilateral talks at the ministerial level is set to resume since the Mumbai 2008 attacks. Are you confident of a constructive and productive dialogue with your neighbour with so much suspicion in the air? We are committed to resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan through bilateral dialogue, in an environment free from terrorism and violence. Normalisation of India-Pakistan relationship is critical for peace, progress and prosperity of our peoples. We are cautiously optimistic about the dialogue that we have recently embarked upon with Pakistan. However, we must keep in mind that we are dealing with complex issues and should not have unrealistic expectations. Your visit to Malaysia is a follow up to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's successful trip last October. How do you see your strategic relationship with Malaysia developing? Malaysia has steadily grown in importance for India both bilaterally and in the regional context. We consider Malaysia a close friend and partner. This is evident from the exchange of visits by the Prime Ministers in 2010, and the decision to establish a Strategic Partnership. We attach high priority to this relationship. My visit is intended to progress our Strategic Partnership. The holding of the 5th Joint Commission in six months after our Prime Minister's visit is also a reflection of this desire. The Malaysian Foreign Minister and I will review the progress in the implementation of understandings reached at the highest level. We will be directing the concerned ministries and departments to expedite discussions in all areas, and we also discuss new proposals. We will work closely in all matters of common interest, including economic, defence and security fields, with a view to achieving a long-term strategic partnership. Under a new global visa ruling enforced by the Indian Government in January, Malaysian tourists can only visit India twice within the six-month visa period. Many here have expressed dismay over this restriction, which is meant to plug loopholes to prevent terrorists from entering India. Will there be a review of the rules to restore our people-to-people ties? To counter growing terrorist threats to India's security, the new tourist visa policy was introduced in 2010 which prescribes the second visit of a tourist to take place after a gap of two months. This is not applicable to any other category of visas. Also, this is a policy which is not specific to Malaysia but applies to all countries. Exceptions are made to bona-fide tourists and visitors on certain bases. Aspects of this policy are being reviewed by our government.