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EDITORIAL ANALYSIS : In the new evolving world, India needs a new vision   

 

 

Source: The Hindu

 

Prelims: Current events of international importance, Ukraine-Russia war, covid-19, debt diplomacy, common enemy doctrine, decentralization etc

Mains GS Paper II: Bilateral, regional and global grouping and agreements involving India or affecting India’s interests.

 

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

  • Vladimir Lenin: ‘There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.’

 

INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE

Context

Multilateralism:

  • It refers to a set of governing arrangements of fundamental rules, principles, and institutions among nations.
  • The United Nations (UN) is an example of a multilateral international institution which aims at making a sustainable and inclusive multilateral global order.

 

Role of multilateral global order:

 

Events during 2022:

  • COVID-19 pandemic:
    • It was dealt by collective vaccination efforts of science, business and governments across the world.
  • Russia-Ukraine conflict: Impact:
    • Retaliatory economic sanctions
    • weaponization of trade dependencies
    • inflation and recession
    • gas shortage in winter

 

Steps by USA:

  • Trade restrictions against its enemies
  • promoting trading blocs among its allies
  • incentivising domestic production through large financial assistance.

 

Steps by China:

  • Military aggression by China against India.
  • Realignment of the world order through:
    • Strategic use of debt diplomacy
    • Economic power
    • Common enemy’ doctrine

 

Why Social harmony a necessary condition?

  • Economic power: It is a necessary condition for India’s rise as an economic power.
  • Factories will not differentiate amongst people of multiple identities working together.
    • Ability is all that matters.
  • There is a danger of one stray communal incident erupting into large-scale violence and unrest.

 

What steps India needs to take?

  • Time to re-imagine India’s overall strategy: re-evaluate our normative policy framework in this backdrop of an irrational world.
  • Holistic military, diplomatic, social and economic strategy and not be afraid to challenge conventional wisdom.
  • Modernize and augment our defense capabilities with state-of-the-art weaponry and not be held hostage to antiquated military purchase norms and processes.
  • India needs a bolder geo-economic strategy to gain preferential access to unique technologies and capital from other nations in return for domestic market access.
  • India’s politics will need to craft a new social contract with citizens, as the traditional tools of welfare and governance turn weak.
    • The gap between the haves and have-nots widens further.
  • India’s economic road map will have to factor in environmental concerns, move away from the monopolies model of private enterprise
  • Carve a new inclusive, labor market focused economic development path of production, and not chase financialisation-driven GDP growth
  • Stronger institutions are a necessary condition for greater decentralization: Reforming public institutions with more powers, autonomy, resources and accountability is essential.

 

Way Forward

  • Trusted free trade among nations has turned into distrustful ‘foe trade’, leading to formation of ‘friend trade’ groups and the glorification of ‘economic nationalism’.
  • India stands to gain from the established trade order: India cannot afford to get squeezed in the emerging bipolar world of western and Russia-China trading blocs.
  • Reshaping of world: The Chinese threat is neither just a border dispute with India nor an isolated bilateral conflict. It marks a fundamental reshaping of global forces.
  • Knee-jerk reactions such as trade restrictions and economic sanctions against China by western powers are blunt measures that will backfire.
  • The counter to a Sino-centric world order is an economically powerful India.
  • Bharat Jodo yatra: It is an effort to heal communal wounds and strengthen the nation’s social fabric to help surmount the geopolitical and economic challenges facing the nation and the world.
  • Rational pursuits of peace and prosperity are not the sole or even primary motivator for all nations and leaders.
    • We must contest this ‘no more shared rational pursuits’ premise for the emerging new world order.
  • The established foreign policy doctrine of non-alignment may now conflict with India’s growing need for trade and market access in the new economic world order, and may need to be re-envisioned.
  • India’s political governance model calls for greater decentralization and federalism reforms to cater to widening divergence among States.
  • Collective efforts of all leaders across the political spectrum to come together and craft a new vision, for which the onus rests with the Prime Minister.

 

QUESTION FOR PRACTICE

Q. The long sustained image of India as a leader of the oppressed and marginalized nations has disappeared on account of its new found role in the emerging global order.’ Elaborate(UPSC 2019) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)