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Isolation awaits India if Mods downgrades or boycotts BRICS summit
SAM Report, August 24, 2017
The chances of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the BRICS summit alongside China’s President Xinping in China between September 3 and 5, appear to be receding fast, with the situation on the India-China border going from bad to worse.
Neither the Chinese nor the Indian spokesperson would confirm Modi’s participation. While the Chinese spokesperson, Hua Chunying, said that preparations for the summit are in the final stages, when asked about Modi’s participation, Indian spokesman Raveesh Kumar said he had no information on it.
However, without making any direct reference to Modi’s participation, Chinese spokesperson Hua reiterated China’s stand that Indian troops should be unconditionally withdrawn from Doklam which she said is a prerequisite for the settlement of the dispute.
The Summit of the five emerging countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) — will be held in the coastal city of Xiamen from September 3 to September 5.
At a recent article in Quint, Sudheendra Kulkarni, Chairman of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) writes that the Indian Prime Minister might skip the summit and send a junior representative. Alternatively India could completely boycott the summit.
India’s hostility towards BRICS stems from the fact that Pakistan could be an entrant into BRICS-Plus with the support of China, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa.
But this is likely to put off China greatly. As Kulkarni points out, the venue of the summit, Xiamen, on south-eastern coast of China overlooking Taiwan, is itself of great importance to President Xi.
“This is of special significance for Xi since this is where he first made his mark as a super-effective leader, becoming the city’s deputy mayor in 1985. Thereafter, until 2002, he spent seventeen years in Fujian in various positions in the Communist Party,” Kulkarni points out.
“India’s boycott and open criticism of the ambitious OBOR global summit Xi had hosted in Beijing in May this year has already fuelled considerable bitterness to India-China ties,” he recalls.
Isolation of India
Modi’s no-show at the BRICS meet in Xiamen would not only further embitter the Chinese leadership, but also isolate India from the rest of the emerging world.
“Even Russia may not support India on the issue of boycotting BRICS,” Kulkarni warns.
India’s hostility towards BRICS stems from the fact that Pakistan could be an entrant into BRICS-Plus with the support of China, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa.
But there is simply no basis for opposing Pakistan’s entry, as just two months ago, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) became SCO-Plus by inducting, at its summit in Astana, both India and Pakistan as its newest members. It showed the hollowness of the Modi government’s claim of “isolating Pakistan globally”, Kukarni remarks sarcastically.
“Ironically, the likelihood of a Modi-minus BRICS summit has surfaced at a time when President Xi Jinping has been actively working on the idea of BRICS-Plus.
Addressing a meeting of the foreign ministers of the five member-nations in Beijing in June this year (significantly, India was represented not by Sushma Swaraj, minister of external affairs, but by her deputy VK Singh) Xi confidently said that China is ready to shoulder the important mission of opening up of the second decade of BRICS cooperation. China is ready for discussion on BRICS-Plus cooperation pattern and forms,” Kulkrni points out.
“China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has also reiterated the idea of BRICS-Plus, saying China would “hold outreach dialogues with other major developing countries and establish extensive partnerships and widen our circle of friends to turn BRICS into the most impactful platform for South-South cooperation.”
But India has a dim view of the BRICS’ future. “If anything, India’s leaders and influential strategic experts see BRICS increasingly as a China-centric and China-dominated platform. Moreover, they are highly inimical to the idea of BRICS-Plus because Pakistan is one of the new countries China seeks to include in the group, with the support of Russia, Brazil and South Africa,” Kulkarni says.
In addition to Pakistan, China would also like to see other major developing countries and emerging economies from different continents such as South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Turkey, Iran, Bangladesh and the Philippines (from Asia), Nigeria and Egypt (from Africa) and Mexico (from Latin America).
“One does not have to be partial to China to recognize that the entry of these potential new members into BRICS ─ which are collectively described as the Next Eleven, given the large size of their populations and their highly promising growth prospects ─ will make the organization more representative of the aspirations of developing countries,” Kulkarni argues.
“All in all, they view BRICS-Plus as a way of decreasing India’s standing in the organization and, simultaneously, increasing China’s position and clout in it,” he adds.
How to Salvage?
But all is not lost for India. But China and India must do three thing, Kulkarni suggests:
(1) they should resolve the border problem in Doklam in the Bhutan-China-Sikkim tri-junction
(2) China must make India an “equal partner” in the BRI and
(3) India must approve of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and extend it to India in the East and countries to the West of Pakistan.
He says that solving the basic border issue and accommodating India as an equal partner will make the BRI “truly democratic, inclusive, consultative and participative with win-win benefits for all.”
“It would be history’s greatest project to economically integrate South Asia. This will lift the largest number of poor people in the world out of poverty and underdevelopment,” Kulkarni says.
http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/0...-india-mods-downgrades-boycotts-brics-summit/
SAM Report, August 24, 2017
The chances of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the BRICS summit alongside China’s President Xinping in China between September 3 and 5, appear to be receding fast, with the situation on the India-China border going from bad to worse.
Neither the Chinese nor the Indian spokesperson would confirm Modi’s participation. While the Chinese spokesperson, Hua Chunying, said that preparations for the summit are in the final stages, when asked about Modi’s participation, Indian spokesman Raveesh Kumar said he had no information on it.
However, without making any direct reference to Modi’s participation, Chinese spokesperson Hua reiterated China’s stand that Indian troops should be unconditionally withdrawn from Doklam which she said is a prerequisite for the settlement of the dispute.
The Summit of the five emerging countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) — will be held in the coastal city of Xiamen from September 3 to September 5.
At a recent article in Quint, Sudheendra Kulkarni, Chairman of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) writes that the Indian Prime Minister might skip the summit and send a junior representative. Alternatively India could completely boycott the summit.
India’s hostility towards BRICS stems from the fact that Pakistan could be an entrant into BRICS-Plus with the support of China, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa.
But this is likely to put off China greatly. As Kulkarni points out, the venue of the summit, Xiamen, on south-eastern coast of China overlooking Taiwan, is itself of great importance to President Xi.
“This is of special significance for Xi since this is where he first made his mark as a super-effective leader, becoming the city’s deputy mayor in 1985. Thereafter, until 2002, he spent seventeen years in Fujian in various positions in the Communist Party,” Kulkarni points out.
“India’s boycott and open criticism of the ambitious OBOR global summit Xi had hosted in Beijing in May this year has already fuelled considerable bitterness to India-China ties,” he recalls.
Isolation of India
Modi’s no-show at the BRICS meet in Xiamen would not only further embitter the Chinese leadership, but also isolate India from the rest of the emerging world.
“Even Russia may not support India on the issue of boycotting BRICS,” Kulkarni warns.
India’s hostility towards BRICS stems from the fact that Pakistan could be an entrant into BRICS-Plus with the support of China, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa.
But there is simply no basis for opposing Pakistan’s entry, as just two months ago, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) became SCO-Plus by inducting, at its summit in Astana, both India and Pakistan as its newest members. It showed the hollowness of the Modi government’s claim of “isolating Pakistan globally”, Kukarni remarks sarcastically.
“Ironically, the likelihood of a Modi-minus BRICS summit has surfaced at a time when President Xi Jinping has been actively working on the idea of BRICS-Plus.
Addressing a meeting of the foreign ministers of the five member-nations in Beijing in June this year (significantly, India was represented not by Sushma Swaraj, minister of external affairs, but by her deputy VK Singh) Xi confidently said that China is ready to shoulder the important mission of opening up of the second decade of BRICS cooperation. China is ready for discussion on BRICS-Plus cooperation pattern and forms,” Kulkrni points out.
“China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has also reiterated the idea of BRICS-Plus, saying China would “hold outreach dialogues with other major developing countries and establish extensive partnerships and widen our circle of friends to turn BRICS into the most impactful platform for South-South cooperation.”
But India has a dim view of the BRICS’ future. “If anything, India’s leaders and influential strategic experts see BRICS increasingly as a China-centric and China-dominated platform. Moreover, they are highly inimical to the idea of BRICS-Plus because Pakistan is one of the new countries China seeks to include in the group, with the support of Russia, Brazil and South Africa,” Kulkarni says.
In addition to Pakistan, China would also like to see other major developing countries and emerging economies from different continents such as South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Turkey, Iran, Bangladesh and the Philippines (from Asia), Nigeria and Egypt (from Africa) and Mexico (from Latin America).
“One does not have to be partial to China to recognize that the entry of these potential new members into BRICS ─ which are collectively described as the Next Eleven, given the large size of their populations and their highly promising growth prospects ─ will make the organization more representative of the aspirations of developing countries,” Kulkarni argues.
“All in all, they view BRICS-Plus as a way of decreasing India’s standing in the organization and, simultaneously, increasing China’s position and clout in it,” he adds.
How to Salvage?
But all is not lost for India. But China and India must do three thing, Kulkarni suggests:
(1) they should resolve the border problem in Doklam in the Bhutan-China-Sikkim tri-junction
(2) China must make India an “equal partner” in the BRI and
(3) India must approve of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and extend it to India in the East and countries to the West of Pakistan.
He says that solving the basic border issue and accommodating India as an equal partner will make the BRI “truly democratic, inclusive, consultative and participative with win-win benefits for all.”
“It would be history’s greatest project to economically integrate South Asia. This will lift the largest number of poor people in the world out of poverty and underdevelopment,” Kulkarni says.
http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/0...-india-mods-downgrades-boycotts-brics-summit/
