GS Paper 2
Syllabus: International Relations
Source: TH
Context: As Russia-China bolster ties, Saudi Arabia-Iran strike a deal (with China’s mediation), India’s tightrope walk gets tougher ahead of a number of crucial meetings – G7, G20, SCO and Quad.
Recent global developments:
| Developments | Implications | |
| Overall | For India | |
| Iran-Saudi Arabia agreement: In a surprise announcement, the countries decided to re-establish full diplomatic ties after talks mediated in China. | ● May end Shia-Sunni rivalry – long being part of West Asian politics
● End to proxy conflicts in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq ● The decline of western influence, boost to Chinese influence |
● Iran and Saudi Arabia are both close friends of India, so their deal is a positive
● However, the fact that China is a guarantor of the deal makes both countries much close to Beijing ● India’s strain with Iran, over cancelling oil imports, reducing investment in Chabahar due to US sanctions and the I2U2 → China’s increasing presence → hurting India’s plans to circumvent Pakistan ● Connectivity for India via Chabahar, INSTC to Russia could also be hampered |
| The International Criminal Court convicted Russian President Putin in a number of alleged kidnappings of children in Ukraine. | ● Could impact Putin’s future travel
● As none of Russia, China, the US or India is a signatory to the ICC, so this may not make a difference |
|
| Xi travels to Moscow: A year after Putin went to Beijing and reaffirmed the relationship between them. | ● No-limits partnership
● Not a military alliance ● Adheres to non-alignment, non-confrontation, and non-targeting of third countries ● Not allow multipolar organisations to be politicised – indicating the current logjam at the G-20 |
● Russia is a traditional friend and China is a traditional foe/rival
● China’s plans for more defence imports from Russia (remember China bought the S-400 before India) could hurt India’s strategic interest. ● The new front will make consensus at the G-20 much more difficult |
| Iran-Russia-China held naval exercises in the Gulf Of Oman | While Russia and China have held joint military exercises before, the inclusion of Iran is significant
|
|
| Saudi Arabia clears decision to join SCO | More will be known when India hosts the SCO summit this year | |
Other developments:
- AUKUS: US, Australia and UK announced the 3-phase plan – a $368 Billion deal to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines over the next 30 years.
- Japanese PM’s visit to Delhi: Japanese PM unveiled Japan’s new Indo-Pacific Policy and indicated that Japan stands against both Russia and China’s military plans.
- US hosted a virtual Democracy Summit: Pitching a front of democracies vs authoritarian states – deepening the global divide as
- Neither China nor Russia was invited, but Taiwan was.
- They called the Ukraine War – an assault on democracy.
Challenges for India: India is a common factor on both sides – therefore it has to walk a tough tightrope between its
- Continental ties (Pakistan, China, Afghanistan, Iran, Central Asia and Russia) and
- Maritime strategy (Quad, UK, France, Germany, EU, IOR countries- Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius, etc).
Conclusion:
- There is a reason that India’s current foreign policy (where there is a Quad, SCO, G-7, and G-20) of strategic autonomy and multipolarity is not so different from its traditional foreign policy of non-alignment.
- Instead of seeing non-alignment as a compulsion, there is merit in seeing India’s traditional balancing act as one that gives its foreign policy maximum flexibility to serve India’s needs.
Insta Links:
Mains Links:
The newly tri-nation partnership AUKUS is aimed at countering China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. Is it going to supersede the existing partnerships in the region? Discuss the strength and impact of AUKUS in the present scenario. (UPSC 2021)
