Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Politics / Policy/  India’s policy on neighbours frays as Manmohan Singh skips Sri Lanka meeting
BackBack

India’s policy on neighbours frays as Manmohan Singh skips Sri Lanka meeting

National interest being sacrificed at a time when India's influence is already waning in the region, say analysts

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was to represent India at the Commonwealth Heads of Governments’ Meet, or CHOGM—a grouping of 54 former British colonies—being hosted by Sri Lanka from 15-17 November. Photo: BloombergPremium
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was to represent India at the Commonwealth Heads of Governments’ Meet, or CHOGM—a grouping of 54 former British colonies—being hosted by Sri Lanka from 15-17 November. Photo: Bloomberg

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s decision not to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Governments’ Meet (CHOGM) in Colombo, owing to pressure from within his Congress party and Tamil political groups, illustrates how his once carefully crafted policy on dealing with neighbouring countries is fraying, say analysts.

“The Prime Minister has often stressed the importance of having good relations with neighbours," said former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh, recalling Singh had once said a peaceful periphery was important for India’s economic and strategic rise.

“He has also spoken of the need for an asymmetric relationship between India and its neighbours—India being the bigger country in South Asia, how it should not expect reciprocity on every point. Only last week, he spoke to senior Indian diplomats about the importance of the neighbourhood to India’s economic and strategic well being," Mansingh said, referring to a 4-7 November heads of missions meeting in New Delhi. With Singh deciding not to go, “all these principles laid out by the Prime Minister have been violated", Mansingh said.

Singh was to represent India at the CHOGM—a grouping of 54 former British colonies—being hosted by Sri Lanka from 15-17 November. But late Saturday, it was made clear that foreign minister Salman Khurshid would head the Indian delegation.

No official explanation has been forthcoming as to why Singh isn’t going, but it’s clear that domestic political compulsions forced the Prime Minister’s hand.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which offers outside support to Singh’s Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in Delhi, and the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Tamil Nadu, have been pressuring Singh not to go.

Their reason: the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in Colombo has done next to nothing to integrate minority Sri Lankan Tamils, who constitute about 12% of Sri Lanka’s 20 million population, into the national mainstream even five years after the end of the three-decade-old civil war that ended with the death of the Tamil rebel leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran in May 2009. The welfare of Sri Lankan Tamils is an emotive issue in India, given that about 70 million Tamils in Tamil Nadu share close cultural ties with them. In March, the DMK formally pulled out of the UPA, citing the Indian government’s indifference towards the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils.

“With the general election around the corner (expected in May 2014), the Prime Minister has to take into account the sentiments of Tamil parties," said an aide to a Congress minister, declining to be named. The Congress party, which has a marginal presence in Tamil Nadu, “has to fight the elections in alliance with one of the Tamil parties. If the Prime Minister goes to Colombo, no one will be there for us to align with", he said.

Analysts have criticized the government’s decision and such arguments.

“I don’t think it’s a prudent decision," said Leela Ponnappa, former deputy national security adviser. “If it was a bilateral visit, then the decision may have been alright. But not to go for a multilateral event when it was decided long ago that Sri Lanka was hosting it, does not serve our larger national interest," she said. “When the representatives of an elected government in Sri Lanka’s northern province want the Indian Prime Minister to visit," for Indian Tamil parties to object “shows it’s really domestic politics and not national interest that is dictating the situation," she said, referring to a letter written by C.V. Wigneswaran, chief minister of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, to Singh in October.

Arguments in favour of Singh visiting Colombo put forth by the foreign ministry included narrowing the space for increasing Chinese influence in a region that India considers within its strategic sphere. “Chinese influence around India’s periphery has been growing in the past many years," noted Mansingh, pointing to China building the Gwadar port in Pakistan, the Hambantota port and the Colombo shipping container terminal in Sri Lanka, the Chittagong port in Bangladesh, and a naval facility in Myanmar, besides increasing political influence in Nepal.

Former Indian ambassador to Nepal Shiv Mukherjee said this was not the first instance of the Indian government caving in to pressure from a state government and sacrificing national interests. Pointing to an example involving Bangladesh, he said “the government there had delivered on major issues—like an extradition treaty that had been sought for decades" but, in return, India could not deliver on its promises to deliver an accord to share waters of the river Teesta or reach a settlement on undemarcated sections of the boundary. This happened after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee opposed the proposed river water-sharing pact with Bangladesh.

That India’s influence in its neighbourhood has been falling is evident from the situation in the Maldives.

Voting for presidential elections in September was declared void by the Maldives Supreme Court citing poll malpractices, and a visit by Indian foreign secretary Sujatha Singh to the Indian Ocean atoll nation to ensure a second round of polling was held on schedule last month came to naught. The polls were held on Saturday.

In Nepal, India has been keeping a low profile after being accused of interference for its excessive prodding of the Himalayan nation to draft a constitution.

Ties with Pakistan have been on the slide since the beginning of the year with exchanges of fire along the line of control becoming a daily routine in violation of a 2003 ceasefire accord. This is despite talks between Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, in New York in September to get ties back on track.

“It looks as if the vision that the Prime Minister had for the neighbourhood has frayed," said C. U. Bhaskar, analyst with the South Asia Monitor think tank.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Politics News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
More Less
Published: 11 Nov 2013, 12:38 AM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App