Lankan Ranger
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Visits by big five leaders in six months indicate Indias growing global stature
The year 2010 was eventful for Indian diplomacy. As many as 24 heads of state or government had visited the country during the year, including Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. In other words, India hosted a president or prime minister of a friendly country every fortnight!
But the most interesting part of the diplomatic success story is that something thats rare in the annals of international relations actually occurred in India: the top leaders of the worlds five most powerful countries visited India one after the other in the second half of the year.
They are the veto-wielding Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)-popularly known as P-5 or Big Five. The first to come was British Prime Minister David Cameron in July. In November came United States President Barack Obama. And making a beeline to India one after the other in December were French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
It is hard to recall another instance of the P-5 leaders visiting a single country on the planet on bilateral visits one after the other in a short span of six months!
India signed business deals worth over $64 billion with the Big Five during these VVIP visits. Last year, Indias trade with these five countries amounted to $112 billion. That is more than half of its total global trade of $200 billion! And each of these leaders wants his countrys trade with India to double in five years. Cumulatively, the figure of Indias trade with the P-5 by 2015 will amount to a staggering $235 billion!!
These staggering trade figures point to the fact that each of the Big Five recognises Indias stature as an emerging economic giant. Sure, trade is important in this day and age. But Indias relations with the Big Five are not just about trade.
Barring Chinas Wen Jiabao, each one of the other four visiting heads has supported Indias candidature for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Obama announced Americas support openly for the first time during his celebrated speech to a joint session of the Indian Parliament. He also declared that India is not just a rising power, but that it has already risen.
French President Sarkozy was the most enthusiastic supporter of them all. He wants India to get a permanent seat on the UN Security Council this year itself, why wait till the next? British Prime Minister Cameron and Russian President Medvedev reiterated their backing to India, first lent several years ago.
Again barring Wen Jiabao, each one of the four western Biggies bluntly criticised Pakistan for hosting terrorist networks that attack India, and also lambasted Islamabad for not punishing the perpetrators of the 26 November 2008 suicide attacks on Mumbais famous Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi Hotel and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminal that claimed some 300 innocent lives.
Messrs Cameron, Obama, Sarkozy and Medvedev have also promised to help India become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). The 46-nation nuclear cartel will informally take up Indias membership at its plenary at The Hague in the Netherlands in June this year. The US alerted the NSG members about this immediately after Obama declared Washingtons support to get India on board.
India also received the western Biggies backing for joining the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Australia Group (an informal forum that seeks to ensure that nuclear materials they export do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons), and the Wassenaar Arrangement (on Export Control for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies).
Considering that India is a nuclear power that has not signed the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) so far, this is a remarkable achievement indeed.
As for China, some analysts dubbed Wen Jiabaos visit a flop. But others ask: How can we expect China to dump its "all-weather friend" Pakistan overnight just to please us? Of course, Beijing is known to be advising Pakistan to adopt the "Chinese Model" to improve its relations with India by keeping its disputes on the backburner. China has been doing this, and successfully too! Tranquility rules the sprawling Sino-Indian border in the Himalayas. A specially committee set up is poring over maps to find an amicable and mutually acceptable solution to the border dispute between the two Asian giants.
Chinese companies are doing business with India, and Indian companies are doing well in China. The bilateral trade between the two crossed $50 billion in 2010. Wen Jiabao and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh want trade to double by 2015. But pundits keeping tabs on these matters say the bilateral trade will cross the $100-billion mark by 2013 itself!
It must be said to Wen Jiabaos credit that he reiterated that China and India are not rivals or competitors, but partners. And he shares the Indian prime ministers view that the world is big enough for the two populous giants to flourish together. He also declared: "The dragon (China) and the elephant (India) must learn to dance together!"
However, China is the only P-5 country that is yet to openly support Indias aspirations for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. However, informed sources say that Wen Jiabao has privately assured Dr Manmohan Singh that China will not block India from getting a permanent seat on the UNSC.
Why is the world, including the Big Five, keen on being friends with India? The reason is simple. The world recognises that India is a major player on the global stage. Nuclear-armed India is the worlds largest democracy with a population of 1.2 billion people, half of whom are aged below 25 years. India poses no threat to anybody. The Indian economy, with a gross domestic product (GDP) worth $1.4 trillion, is expected to double in this decade. And India will be the worlds third largest economy (in terms of purchasing power parity) after China and USA by 2025.
Therefore, the question worth asking is: can any country in the world afford not to be friends with India?
The Island
The year 2010 was eventful for Indian diplomacy. As many as 24 heads of state or government had visited the country during the year, including Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. In other words, India hosted a president or prime minister of a friendly country every fortnight!
But the most interesting part of the diplomatic success story is that something thats rare in the annals of international relations actually occurred in India: the top leaders of the worlds five most powerful countries visited India one after the other in the second half of the year.
They are the veto-wielding Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)-popularly known as P-5 or Big Five. The first to come was British Prime Minister David Cameron in July. In November came United States President Barack Obama. And making a beeline to India one after the other in December were French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
It is hard to recall another instance of the P-5 leaders visiting a single country on the planet on bilateral visits one after the other in a short span of six months!
India signed business deals worth over $64 billion with the Big Five during these VVIP visits. Last year, Indias trade with these five countries amounted to $112 billion. That is more than half of its total global trade of $200 billion! And each of these leaders wants his countrys trade with India to double in five years. Cumulatively, the figure of Indias trade with the P-5 by 2015 will amount to a staggering $235 billion!!
These staggering trade figures point to the fact that each of the Big Five recognises Indias stature as an emerging economic giant. Sure, trade is important in this day and age. But Indias relations with the Big Five are not just about trade.
Barring Chinas Wen Jiabao, each one of the other four visiting heads has supported Indias candidature for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Obama announced Americas support openly for the first time during his celebrated speech to a joint session of the Indian Parliament. He also declared that India is not just a rising power, but that it has already risen.
French President Sarkozy was the most enthusiastic supporter of them all. He wants India to get a permanent seat on the UN Security Council this year itself, why wait till the next? British Prime Minister Cameron and Russian President Medvedev reiterated their backing to India, first lent several years ago.
Again barring Wen Jiabao, each one of the four western Biggies bluntly criticised Pakistan for hosting terrorist networks that attack India, and also lambasted Islamabad for not punishing the perpetrators of the 26 November 2008 suicide attacks on Mumbais famous Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi Hotel and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminal that claimed some 300 innocent lives.
Messrs Cameron, Obama, Sarkozy and Medvedev have also promised to help India become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). The 46-nation nuclear cartel will informally take up Indias membership at its plenary at The Hague in the Netherlands in June this year. The US alerted the NSG members about this immediately after Obama declared Washingtons support to get India on board.
India also received the western Biggies backing for joining the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Australia Group (an informal forum that seeks to ensure that nuclear materials they export do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons), and the Wassenaar Arrangement (on Export Control for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies).
Considering that India is a nuclear power that has not signed the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) so far, this is a remarkable achievement indeed.
As for China, some analysts dubbed Wen Jiabaos visit a flop. But others ask: How can we expect China to dump its "all-weather friend" Pakistan overnight just to please us? Of course, Beijing is known to be advising Pakistan to adopt the "Chinese Model" to improve its relations with India by keeping its disputes on the backburner. China has been doing this, and successfully too! Tranquility rules the sprawling Sino-Indian border in the Himalayas. A specially committee set up is poring over maps to find an amicable and mutually acceptable solution to the border dispute between the two Asian giants.
Chinese companies are doing business with India, and Indian companies are doing well in China. The bilateral trade between the two crossed $50 billion in 2010. Wen Jiabao and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh want trade to double by 2015. But pundits keeping tabs on these matters say the bilateral trade will cross the $100-billion mark by 2013 itself!
It must be said to Wen Jiabaos credit that he reiterated that China and India are not rivals or competitors, but partners. And he shares the Indian prime ministers view that the world is big enough for the two populous giants to flourish together. He also declared: "The dragon (China) and the elephant (India) must learn to dance together!"
However, China is the only P-5 country that is yet to openly support Indias aspirations for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. However, informed sources say that Wen Jiabao has privately assured Dr Manmohan Singh that China will not block India from getting a permanent seat on the UNSC.
Why is the world, including the Big Five, keen on being friends with India? The reason is simple. The world recognises that India is a major player on the global stage. Nuclear-armed India is the worlds largest democracy with a population of 1.2 billion people, half of whom are aged below 25 years. India poses no threat to anybody. The Indian economy, with a gross domestic product (GDP) worth $1.4 trillion, is expected to double in this decade. And India will be the worlds third largest economy (in terms of purchasing power parity) after China and USA by 2025.
Therefore, the question worth asking is: can any country in the world afford not to be friends with India?
The Island
