India's Look-East Policy - Targets China, says commentator

[SHASH2K2]

India's 'Look East' policy has strategic goals

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's three-nation visit to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam marks a reassertion of India's resolve to pursue its "Look East Policy" to achieve its strategic, geo-political and economic goals.

The signing of a commitment to expand trade with Malaysia next week, a number of pacts with Vietnam and an understanding with Japan on nuclear energy are the highlights of his tour.

That the Look East Policy - begun in the nineties under then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao in whose government Manmohan Singh was the finance minister - has received priority is clear from Manmohan's decision not to visit New York this September for the UN General Assembly, an ideal venue for world leaders to hold bilateral discussions on the sidelines.

The man who pushed for the free trade agreement (FTA) with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) wants to reach out to a 550 million-strong consumer market that exudes a magnetic appeal to the world's industry. Besides the large consumer base, the region is rich in raw materials and energy, which India badly needs for its future development.

India has obvious constraints in its own region, where the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has not done too well. It is hardly surprising that India's External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna recently pointed to the dynamic growth rates posted in trade and investment in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

Cooperation between India and ASEAN has moved at a fast pace since India launched its economic reforms and the Look East Policy in the 1990s. India was a full dialogue partner at the fifth ASEAN Summit in Bangkok in 1995 and became a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum in 1996. India and ASEAN have held summit meetings annually since 2002.

Manmohan will be at the eighth ASEAN-India summit in Vietnam next week.

An FTA with ASEAN signed in August last year in Thailand will boost the group's economic and trade relations with India. India's trade with ASEAN has surged from $39.08 billion (RM122 billion) in 2007-08 to $45.34 billion in 2008-09. There is great potential for trade and investment between India and ASEAN.

Forming the backdrop of the Manmohan visit to the region was one last month by President Pratibha Patil to Laos and Cambodia. Not only were cultural agreements signed but business talk was also conducted.

The state visits have, in the past, been largely ceremonial in nature. But, now, business delegations accompany the head of state. Patil's delegation had 45 business people. This is a recent trend and constitutes a significant change that allows economic ties to drive bilateral and multilateral relations.

Patil said the engagement with Cambodia and Laos was set to substantially expand, and would be taken forward bilaterally and through ASEAN. In Laos, India extended a credit line of $72.55 million to finance two power projects. In Cambodia, Patil signed two agreements, the first between the comptroller and auditor-general of India and the National Audit Authority of Cambodia, and the second for a $15 million credit line between EXIM Bank and the Cambodian government for Phase II of the Stung Tassal water development project.

Cambodia is the country coordinator for India in ASEAN and will occupy the ASEAN chair in 2012, when India hosts the commemorative India-ASEAN summit in New Delhi.

 

[SHASH2K2]

India's Look East policy shouldn't mean 'encircle China': People's Daily​

BEIJING: Ahead of the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao in Hanoi, state-run Peoples Daily on Thursday suggested that India was trying to "encircle China" with its "Look East" policy of befriending Japan and ASEAN countries.

India's " Look East policy" should not mean a policy to "encircle China" and India should "listen" to Beijing's "expression" before joining any anti- China alliance with Japan, said a write-up in the newspaper.

"Singh's visit to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam has been a media hype at home, being even described as a missionary trip to seek new strategic allies to deal with China," it said asking whether India's "Look East Policy" means "Look to encircle China".

India however dismissed any apprehensions in Beijing about it forging closer ties with Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam to encircle China, saying these were stand-alone bilateral relations not predicated on any other country.

"Our relations exist in their own right. These are not predicated on any third country," Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry Latha Reddy, who is accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his visit to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam, told reporters.

"We have valid bilateral relations with each of these countries and these are not predicated by ties with any other country," Reddy said.

She underlined that India's 'Look East Policy' was not new but as old as 1950s.

"The savvy Indian leadership will never rashly board the ship of Japan without giving a glance at China's expression. After all, it is not Japan, but China that acts as India's largest trade partner with the overall volume in 2010 to exceed US$ 60 billion", the People's Daily said.

"Although its (India's) hawks are so intoxicated at the idea that India finally regains the momentum to counteract China's rising regional clout, with the " Look East Policy" as its guiding principle, encouraged by its leaders' sound relationship with ASEAN nations, and by taking advantage of the face-off between China and Japan, India still cannot relax its spasm of worries about China, nor can it brush aside the fear that China might nip its ambitions in the bud", it said.

"As for Japan, whose relations with China have frosted over amid the diplomatic détente over the East China Sea, India, with a large consumer base, exudes a magnetic appeal to the presently sluggish economic power", it said.

"On top of that, India is viewed by Japan as an ideal partner to establish the strategic cooperation in security, based on the assumption that both of them are being threatened by China's military assertiveness in East China Sea as well as in the India Ocean. On this basis, Japan and India have both placed high expectations upon each other in combining strengths to counterbalance China", it said.

Read more: India's Look East policy shouldn't mean 'encircle China': People's Daily - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...s-Daily/articleshow/6831416.cms#ixzz13gmH5pMs

 

[SHASH2K2]

Looks like someone is really worried in China. When they are so worried at Idea of cooperation. wonder how they will react in case military cooperation increases ?

 

[Ray]

India's 'Look East Policy' targets China, says commentator

India's 'Look East Policy' targets China, says commentator

BEIJING: India must take into count China's reaction if it attempts to use its 'Look East Policy' to try encircle Beijing, a Chinese commentator said in People's Daily on Thursday.

Li Hongmei wrote that although Indian hawks were intoxicated that India was starting to face China's rising regional clout, with its `Look East Policy', "India cannot relax its spasm of worries about China nor can it brush aside the fear that China might nip its ambitions in the bud".

Li's column, headlined "India's `Look East Policy' means `Look to encircle China'?", appeared on the day Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flew into Vietnam on the final leg of a three-nation tour that also took him to Japan and Malaysia.

The 'Look East policy', said Li, "was born out of failure - the failure of India's Cold War strategy of `playing both ends against the middle'... Today, India is harping on the same string but should wisely skip the out-of-tune piece.

"The savvy Indian leadership will never rashly board the ship of Japan without giving a glance at China's expression. After all, it is not Japan, but China that acts as India's largest trade partner, with the overall volume in 2010 to exceed $60 billion."

Manmohan Singh's trip to Japan, his first halt, came at a time when Sino-Japanese ties have hit a new low. Vietnam, like India, has border disputes and has gone to war with China.

The columnist referred to what she said was the Indian media hype over Manmohan Singh's Asian journey, "...to pursue the geopolitical and economic goals and achieve a 'Big Power' status in the region, if not the leading power".

Commenting on Manmohan Singh's visit to Japan, where the two countries signed a sweeping economic pact, the columnist wrote that the Indian media hoped it would help Tokyo prevent "China's expansion".

"Japan and India have both placed high expectations upon each other in combining strengths to counterbalance China," Li said. She, however, quoted some Japanese military observers as saying that it would be risky for Tokyo to get too close to New Delhi.

They also felt that a new alliance among Japan, India and Vietnam "might seem a logical response to China's ambitions in the South China Sea.

"The logic goes like this - India cannot protect Vietnam against China but its presence in Vietnam (if Hanoi gives Delhi access to a naval base) would raise tensions with China, and Japan would get drawn into the conflict."

China at Risk?

 

[ajtr]

Chinese-daily-accuses-India-of-encircling-China


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...dia-of-encircling-China/videoshow/6831397.cms

 

[pmaitra]

This is honey to my ears!

This is what India should have attempted long time back. PRC is alarmed, aren't they? Really? What have they been doing all these years? Arming Pakistan, supporting the Junta in Myanmar, building ports in Sri Lanka. Yeah, now that India is being a gentleman and trying to return the favour, they feel concerned.

India should simply establish strong strategic alliances with Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan. Australia was a potential ally as well, because they too see PRC as a threat; but thanks to the xenophobia among a section of their population, Australia can languish at the bottom on India's list of priorities (as of now).

 

[Ray]

No commentary in China can be without Official sanction and that too in the CCP mouthpiece Peoples Daily.

Therefore, this commentary, even if not the CCP official view, does indeed indicate the misgivings at seem to be erupting in the official circles and hence should be taken note of!

Is India looking East an incorrect action on part of India? Is India to remain in isolation and not interact with the countries in the neighbourhood so as to ensure a healthy economic and even security environment that is mutually beneficial?

China has given nuclear assistance, missile technology, military assistance and lethal and sophisticated weapons to Pakistan and she claims that this is not any action that should be taken to be against India. Though this is hardly plausible, since Pakistan will surely not be using the sophisticated weaponry against Afghanistan or Iran, India still has taken China for her word. And what is more, Chinese provocative actions, be it in Gilgit Baltistan or the visa row, India still has shown a high degree of maturity.

To encircle a nation, one has to have military outpost or quasi military presence. China has quasi military presence in Gwadar and in Myanmar. India has none anywhere in the countries on the periphery of China. Therefore, for Chinese to get scared that India is 'encircling' China is a bit too alarmist in timbre!

China surely cannot dictate terms as to who India is to trade or foster ties with. What is more India has historical ties with these countries that go back to ancient times. However, the article does indicate the hegemonic arrogance of China, wherein possibly they take the peripheral countries as their backwaters and out of bounds for all nations except China!! If that was not so, then there should have been no shrill outcry that India is 'encircling China', more so, when there is no military presence to indicate so!

Li Hongmei (possibly a nom de plume) is mistaken in believing that "India cannot relax its spasm of worries about China nor can it brush aside the fear that China might nip its ambitions in the bud". India is in no throes of spasm. India is capable of countering China and that is what prompts the Chinese fear of being encircled. The columnist's arrogance is comical in that he opines that China can nip India's ambition in the bud suggesting in a racist overtone that the peripheral nations are but vassals of China!! However, one can forgive the columnist since he speaks through historical indoctrination that through imperial expansion has bestowed on the Hans' a peculiarly warped mindset wherein they are convinced of Han racial superiority and all non Hans being 'barbarians' who must be spoken and taken into account with contempt.

India's Cold War philosophy of working equipoised has worked out well. Its growing economic clout and its Cold War policy has given credence to India being a country having an independent and unfettered national outlook. Thus, it is wooed by both the erstwhile Cold War powers with due diffidence and fervour. This also has given the confidence to the non aligned countries that India is beyond hegemonic ambitions.

The same cannot be said of China of not having hegemonic ambitions. China has perpetually been gripped with political dynamics that has stirred with leaps and bounds their passion for imperial expansionism ever since the advent of Communist rule in China. Tibet, Quemoy, 1962 and Aksai Chin, Ussuri River, Vietnam grab attempt through another 'teaching a lesson' brigandry, massacres in Tibet and East Turkmenistan, Spratly Islands, South China Sea and now Japan!

Apparently a fear seems to have gripped the Chinese over this visit by the PM to many countries in the East or else there is no reason to mention – "The savvy Indian leadership will never rashly board the ship of Japan without giving a glance at China's expression. After all, it is not Japan, but China that acts as India's largest trade partner, with the overall volume in 2010 to exceed $60 billion." It is an attempt to blackmail India into worrying about its economic situation fuelled by cheap Chinese products. One should carry out an exercise to fathom the economics of cheap and not durable Chinese products with the originals that are copied by China. I am sure such an exercise merits attention since the Chinese are worried and hence the columnist criticise the Indian media's belief that the sweeping economic pact will counterbalance China's expansion! If it didn't, then why comment on it?

The columnist mentions that some Japanese military observers as saying that it would be risky for Tokyo to get too close to New Delhi. Where is the risk? Can Japan take on China? If so, then why is the US military based in Japan? They are in a strategic partnership with the US and Japan does exactly what the US directs them to do. It is the US which is making overture to the peripheral states along China's south and Japan is just another cog in the gameplan.

If India does have a military presence in Vietnam, it is because Vietnam does not trust China. Indian presence will be a protection to any military adventure contemplated by China on Vietnam. If there are tensions, Japan will not be drawn in, the US will. And the US has more clout that the imagined clout of Japan which has none!

 

[ajtr]

Diplomacy turbocharged​

October 31st, 2010
By Neena Gopal , DC Correspondent

It's only natural, that it would be here in the gleaming glass-fronted National Convention Centre in Hanoi, celebrating its 1,000th year and festooned with Vietnam's national flags, that India and China's intricate minuet should come to some kind of part denouement.

The bonhomie in Hanoi — from the elaborate courtesy shown by the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao to the host nation, the praise showered by Mr Jiabao on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over his "sagacity and wisdom", and again, over the clinking of glasses at the high table during the gala dinner when Dr Singh was seated, interestingly, between Mr Jiabao and Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan — begs the question: In the face of India's fledgling steps to strings its own pearls across a region long seen as China's stomping ground, and some say egged on by the United States and Russia, has Beijing, tuned in to "understand the voices of others around the globe," reverted from its newfound 'frown' diplomacy to the 'smile' diplomacy that won them entry into a slew of economies in the first place?

No answers as yet. But India has deftly played along. Dr Singh, borrowing a leaf from the Chinese perhaps, in mouthing platitudes in the public domain has finally moved at a surprising pace on his moribund Look East policy, tying up civil nuclear ties with Japan and South Korea, military ties with Vietnam and Malaysia, and trade and economic bonds with Singapore, South Korea and soon with Thailand and Indonesia. All, uniformly wary of the demonstrably muscular face of the new China.

Vietnam, chair of Asean, could be the starting point when the scales finally fall from Asian eyes. Vietnam stands as a bulwark at the mouth of the South China Sea, a beneficiary of Chinese largesse and investment as are other countries in the South East and East Asian region where Beijing seeks to bolster its own economy and tie the investment hungry countries into a much tighter embrace.

Vietnam is the only nation to have defeated every invader — the Mongols several centuries ago, the French, the Americans and the Chinese more recently. While it wants to be the next Asian tiger, not chary of accepting once sworn enemy

China's help to pull itself up by the boot-straps, it is its invitation to India, the United States and Russia to the East Asian summit, that has to be seen for what it is — summoning the cavalry against the economic and sabre-rattling militaristic power of Beijing, which has in recent months, steadily upped the ante.

China has laid claim to the Spratlys, also known as the Paracel islands, held Japan to ransom by halting a supply of rare earths vital to the development of advanced technologies, and made a dramatic shift in its India policy by not only reiterating its claim to the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh but weighing in on the side of Pakistan on Jammu and Kashmir by offering 'stapled' visas to people from that state. The meeting of the Asean 10 and the six from the immediate neighbourhood — which includes India and China, and now Australia, New Zealand, Russia and the United States — is therefore, no accident.

Vietnam's concerns, that in return for trade and development investment from China to speed up

economic recovery after years of wars, it could face an economic implosion as China manipulates its currency to create an artificial imbalance in trade, are echoed across the region.

Chinese officials have baldly told the US that the South China Sea is a "core interest" of Beijing. At the ASEAN Regional Forum Hanoi meet in July this year, nearly half the heads of the 27 delegations raised the issue. Only for the Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi to castigate and remind the Southeast Asian leaders of their economic ties with Beijing, and angrily threaten that they could be broken at any point. Sitting in the room was US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

This Asean-East Asia Summit is therefore all the more an eye-opener, coming as it does just days ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to India on November 6, as significant a signal as Dr Manmohan Singh's state visit to Washington in 2009, of the place that India holds in the American calculus. Ditto, the nations from this region.

India's reaction to the Chinese bogeyman has been a carefully calibrated attempt to build its own security and trade architecture by seeking free trade agreements with all Asean states. It bears the comprehensive imprint of the Indian prime minister, who seems to publicly give the Chinese the benefit of the doubt, as do many Asian nations even in India's South Asian backyard where there is a willingness to turn a blind eye to Beijing's backing of Myanmar and even its moves to further nuclearise Pakistan. But not so in private.

Obama's scepticism over China's motives, too, have not been vocalized but they are shared by many in government who, however, are still deeply divided over whether India should tie itself further into a larger security wheel that already has Japan and Australia as the spokes. US plans to build India up as a counterweight to China, much denied all around, is no secret. Whether India has the moxy to take its newly rejigged Look East policy to its logical conclusion and be able to emulate and counter China's smart power — even with the Americans holding our hands — is, however, the real question.

Rare earths & pouring rain

While in Japan, India moved quickly to offer to supply Japan rare earths, a group of 17 minerals that are vital for the manufacture of a wide range of sophisticated electronic items, industrial and military equipment. One such rare earth, Neodymium, is the reason why audio company Bose is able its tiny jewel-cube speakers. India's offer came in the wake of attempts by China, which currently mines 97 per cent of the world's supply of rare earths, to deny those minerals to Japan, the US and other big consumers — a move that was immediately described as the new "Great Game". Until 1948, India and Brazil were the world's main contributors of rare earths. By offering rare earths to Japan, India not only sought to revive that position, it also managed to soften Japan on a civil nuclear deal.[/quote]

 

[tony4562]

India will find it incredibly difficult to fit in East Asia, folks from all these countries might be at odds with east other. But none likes indians.

10 years down the road India will come to the realization that its a wasted time to try to stir trouble in that region.

 

[Daredevil]

India will find it incredibly difficult to fit in East Asia, folks from all these countries might be at odds with east other. But none likes indians.

10 years down the road India will come to the realization that its a wasted time to try to stir trouble in that region.

India and East-Asia (if not all countries) had cultural links for centuries, so you sweeping statement that East-Asians don't like Indians is laughable. East-Asian countries has every reason to collaborate with India, US and other countries to take the pressure of Chinese hegemony/claims on them. India aready realized that it has wasted time by not engaging with ASEAN countries as it should have and therefore India will not feel that it is wasting time 10 year or 20 years down the line. Signing of India-ASEAN FTA agreement is testament to this fact.

 

[tony4562]

It's your wishful thinking that east asians like indians. For your info, east asians generally don't think highly of people who are dark. I am merely speaking of facts.

 

[Daredevil]

It's your wishful thinking that east asians like indians. For your info, east asians generally don't think highly of people who are dark. I am merely speaking of facts.

As I said, don't make sweeping statements that you cannot prove. So desist from this line of posting.

 

[neo29]

India's Look East policy shouldn't mean 'encircle China': People's Daily

Ahead of the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao in Hanoi, state-run Peoples Daily on Thursday suggested that India was trying to "encircle China" with its "Look East" policy of befriending Japan and ASEAN countries.

India's " Look East policy" should not mean a policy to "encircle China" and India should "listen" to Beijing's "expression" before joining any anti- China alliance with Japan, said a write-up in the newspaper.

"Singh's visit to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam has been a media hype at home, being even described as a missionary trip to seek new strategic allies to deal with China," it said asking whether India's "Look East Policy" means "Look to encircle China".

India however dismissed any apprehensions in Beijing about it forging closer ties with Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam to encircle China, saying these were stand-alone bilateral relations not predicated on any other country.

"Our relations exist in their own right. These are not predicated on any third country," Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry Latha Reddy, who is accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his visit to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam, told reporters.

"We have valid bilateral relations with each of these countries and these are not predicated by ties with any other country," Reddy said.

She underlined that India's 'Look East Policy' was not new but as old as 1950s.

"The savvy Indian leadership will never rashly board the ship of Japan without giving a glance at China's expression. After all, it is not Japan, but China that acts as India's largest trade partner with the overall volume in 2010 to exceed US$ 60 billion", the People's Daily said.

"Although its (India's) hawks are so intoxicated at the idea that India finally regains the momentum to counteract China's rising regional clout, with the " Look East Policy" as its guiding principle, encouraged by its leaders' sound relationship with ASEAN nations, and by taking advantage of the face-off between China and Japan, India still cannot relax its spasm of worries about China, nor can it brush aside the fear that China might nip its ambitions in the bud", it said.

"As for Japan, whose relations with China have frosted over amid the diplomatic détente over the East China Sea, India, with a large consumer base, exudes a magnetic appeal to the presently sluggish economic power", it said.

"On top of that, India is viewed by Japan as an ideal partner to establish the strategic cooperation in security, based on the assumption that both of them are being threatened by China's military assertiveness in East China Sea as well as in the India Ocean. On this basis, Japan and India have both placed high expectations upon each other in combining strengths to counterbalance China", it said.

idrw.org

 

[tony4562]

So what kind proof you wan to have? Do I need to prove that white folks don't like blacks? Racial differences are branded in everyone's mind, it's something you can not just pretend they don't exist.

 

[ajtr]

So what kind proof you wan to have? Do I need to prove that white folks don't like blacks? Racial differences are branded in everyone's mind, it's something you can not just pretend they don't exist.

Even Americans hated Japanese more than they did to blacks now same Americans protecting japan.Country's interest matters more than race.But this thing will never get into pakistani brain.

 

[Daredevil]

So what kind proof you wan to have? Do I need to prove that white folks don't like blacks? Racial differences are branded in everyone's mind, it's something you can not just pretend they don't exist.

Statements like one country people hating people from other country is very subjective and will have no proofs unless those countries in question have a past history which is bad. In this case, India and ASEAN countries have no past bad relations to qualify your statement. That's why I'm telling not to post on this line anymore. It is like me saying that all African people hate China without qualifying that statement (which is difficult as I cannot prove it).

 

[SHASH2K2]

Eye on China, Navy boosts Eastern Command


NEW DELHI: With an eye on China as well as in keeping with India's "Look East" policy, the Navy is slowly but surely bolstering force levels on the eastern coast with new warships, aircraft and spy drones as well as forward-operating bases (FOBs).

So much so that the Navy has now upgraded the post of the chief of staff (CoS) at the Eastern Naval Command (ENC), which is next only to the flag officer commanding-in-chief, to a three-star general rank. Vice-Admiral S Lanba will take over as the new CoS at ENC on May 1, 2011. The other full-fledged naval operational command, the Western Naval Command (WNC) based at Mumbai, has had a vice-admiral as the CoS for quite some time now.

Additions to the ENC, which has around 50 warships at present, include the new indigenously-manufactured stealth frigate INS Shivalik, which is packed with weapons and sensors, and the 16,900-tonne INS Jalashwa, the huge strategic sea-lift amphibious warship second only to aircraft carrier INS Viraat in size.

"The next two indigenous stealth frigates being built at Mazagon Docks, INS Satpura and INS Sahyadri, which should be commissioned by 2012, will also be based in ENC. Tuticorin and Paradeep are being developed as FOB and OTR (operational turn-around) bases," said a source.

Then, the new fleet tanker, INS Shakti, which should come to India from Italy by September, and the P-8I Poseidon long-range maritime patrol aircraft will also be based in ENC. India is acquiring 12 P-8I aircraft, the first of which is slated for induction by early-2013, from the US for over $3 billion to plug the existing gaps in its surveillance of the entire Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

While these aircraft will be based in Rajali, Navy is also going to deploy spy drones or UAVs at the Parundu air station in Tamil Nadu. At present, Navy has two UAV squadrons based at Kochi and Porbandar, with Parundu and Port Blair next on the agenda. As part of Navy's three-tier aerial surveillance grid for IOR, the drones are already being used for the innermost layer reconnaissance up to 200 nautical miles.

 

[Patriot]

North-east India - an emerging gateway

If India is to capitalise on improved Indo-Bangla relationship and the potential to physically connect with mainland Asean, New Delhi must reshape relations with its north-east.

Since Independence, India has treated its north-eastern states as unproductive black holes into which New Delhi pours vast amounts of treasure and obtains resentful ingratitude in return. But this backwater is in focus after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's successful visit to Dhaka earlier this month, which has not just built bridges with Bangladesh but it also holds out the promise of creating a new relationship with south-east Asia. If India is to capitalise on the improved Indo-Bangla relationship and benefit from its potential to physically connect this country with mainland Asean or the the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, New Delhi has no choice but to reshape its relations with its north-east.

The potential for our eastern provinces to disrupt this opportunity has already been highlighted by Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal's chief minister, who pulled out of the delegation to Dhaka in annoyance at the plan to give Bangladesh more water from the Teesta River. While Ms Banerjee's absence somewhat dampened the euphoria in Dhaka, the blame for her embarrassing boycott lies in New Delhi, not Kolkata. Aware of the political sensitivity of water sharing anywhere, but especially between agricultural West Bengal and the erstwhile East Bengal, New Delhi failed to obtain Ms Banerjee's unequivocal agreement on a water deal with Dhaka.

It is telling that Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh's prime minister, seemed more aware than New Delhi of the importance of West Bengal's leader. Ms Banerjee was slated to receive an especially warm welcome in Dhaka and a meeting of the Bangladesh cabinet discussed at some length whether a Dhakai jamdani sari would be a befitting gift for her. Ms Banerjee might well – after some political grandstanding for the voters in North Bengal who rely on Teesta water – climb down and climb aboard a flight to Dhaka for her own little summit with Ms Hasina. But the fact remains that New Delhi's insensitivity towards its peripheries created this muddle. Unless this approach changes, there is the risk of greater, and possibly irretrievable, debacles.

Beyond the Mamata fiasco, the PM's visit to Bangladesh was an unalloyed strategic success. The agreement on demarcating the land boundary between the two countries eliminated a long-standing irritant. But the real triumph, both for bilateral ties and for regionalism, was the opening up of land, sea and riverine communications ("multi-modal links" is the term in vogue). These will provide a physical backbone to the "Look East" policy, so far just a strategic slogan. As Dr Singh and Ms Hasina noted, "road, rail and waterways [are] building blocks to an inter-dependent and mutually beneficial relationship among the countries of the region. The establishment of physical infrastructure would promote exchange of goods and traffic, and lead to the connectivity of services, information, ideas, culture and people."

For now, there are only modest steps. New land ports and immigration stations are being established to facilitate trade and the movement of people. Trial runs have begun for moving cargo on the Brahmaputra between Ashuganj (in Bangladesh) and Silghat (in Assam). A rail line will link Agartala (in Tripura) with Bangladesh. Additional rail connections (Chilahati-Haldibari and Kulaura-Mahishashan) will be reactivated "in the spirit of encouraging revival of old linkages and transport routes between the two countries". And goods could soon move between India's north-east and Chittagong and Mongla seaports.

This is part of a far more expansive project: the linking of India's Indo-Gangetic plain with its north-eastern states; and then expanding those linkages to the mainland Asean states of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam; and through them to China. Currently the Seven Sisters – the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura – are connected to India only through a 21-km-wide sliver of land, the so-called Siliguri corridor. Through this ................

 

[nrj]

India Looks East

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is often derided by opposition parties as a non-resident Indian because of his frequent travels to foreign shores. Since September, Singh has travelled to Bangladesh, the United States, South Africa, France and Maldives. In the latter of half of November he will be in Indonesia to attend the East Asia summit and may stop over at Singapore on his way back.

But while his travels abroad have attracted much attention, it's his role as a host in recent weeks that has caught the eye of discerning observers. In the past three months, Singh has received leaders from Afghanistan, Nepal, Burma, Vietnam and Bhutan, taking relations forward with each of them.

With India and China being looked to as potential saviors of the world's delicate economy, New Delhi's own focus is now clearly on re-engaging with its near and extended neighborhood. Although India launched its "Look East Policy" over two decades ago, it has only gained momentum within the past few years. India has renewed its attention to repairing often fractious relations with its neighbors.

Such efforts began with Singh's breakthrough visit to Bangladesh in September. During the two-day trip, a landmark boundary agreement was clinched after 40 years of complicated negotiations. Efforts were also made toward a significant pact on water-sharing of common rivers which had fallen through due to domestic opposition in India.

There were several other takeaways. Singh and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina Wajed clinched an overarching framework agreement that set the parameters for a multi-dimensional engagement. It included, among other items, a transit agreement that allows goods to flow between land-locked Bhutan and Nepal through Indian Territory to the Chittagong Port in Bangladesh. The agreement marks a major step forward as it ties all four adjoining nations together economically.

In an address delivered to Dhaka University, Prime Minister Singh said: "This is in keeping with the philosophy I have always believed that the destinies of the nations of South Asia are interlinked. We must believe in the vision of a shared future of common prosperity and fulfillment. I believe in all sincerity that India will not be able to realize its own destiny without the partnership of its South Asian neighbors. Therefore, establishing relations of friendship and trust with our neighbors, particularly with Bangladesh, and the creation and consolidation of a peaceful and prosperous regional environment in South Asia are the highest priority of our government."

Singh's government is lucky that Hasina, daughter of Bangladesh founder Mujibur Rehman, is in power. The Awami League government went out of its way to address India's security concerns by arresting and handing over several leaders of insurgent groups active in India's northeast adjoining Bangladesh. New Delhi is showing its gratitude.

Another relationship that New Delhi has sought to mend in recent months is with Burma. Burma is often treated as a pariah state by the West, but it's firmly supported by India's competitor in Asia, China. Burma President Thein Sein's visit to India starting October 12 was the first bya civilian head of state in several decades. Thein Sein's entourage included a large ministerial delegation, which underlined a greater desire to engage India in that country's development agenda. Burma's military was also represented in the delegation by the Army's third most senior general.

Several agreements on strengthening security ties, energy cooperation, and a line of credit worth $500 million dollars were signed as New Delhi acknowledged and praised ongoing efforts at political economic and social reforms in Burma.

Singh and Thein Sein agreed in a joint statement on enhancing effective cooperation and coordination between the security forces of the two countries in tackling the deadly menace of insurgency and terrorism. Since it had lost valuable time because of its antipathy toward engaging the military junta, and thus ceded strategic space to China, India has now made progress to ensure it doesn't repeat the same mistakes with a changing Burma. New Delhi also appreciated government efforts to reach out to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The visit is seen as a breakthrough moment, a point from which India and Burma would like to build upon in coming years and help prevent China from completely dominating Burma's economic and development agenda.

Nepal, a nation sandwiched between China and India, is responding positively to New Delhi's efforts to reach out.

The new Prime Minister of Nepal, Baburam Bhattarai, a former underground Maoist leader, made a politically important visit to New Delhi at a time when the peace process is nearing completion after torturous progression. Bhattarai in fact wrote a piece in the Indian newspaper the Hindu, underlining his desire to move closer to New Delhi. In it, he said: "The visit to India is basically directed towards building a better understanding between the two countries and two peoples. In that sense, it is a goodwill visit.

My personal thrust would be to have a very free and frank discussion with my counterparts so that we can upgrade the relationship according to contemporary needs. The relations and agreements institutionalized in the 20th century may not be enough to meet the needs of the 21st century. Hence, the emphasis would be to develop our relations further, clear misgivings and misunderstandings that we have against each other, and sort out the problems left by history."

New Delhi is acutely aware of exactly this feeling among its smaller neighbors and is therefore making very conscious efforts to reach out. But it's not just immediate neighbors that India is wooing. Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea too are firmly on India's radar. Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang was on a four-day visit to India last month in the immediate aftermath of the standoff between New Delhi and Beijing over an Indian oil firm's exploration contract in South China Sea. Vietnam, an emerging economy like India, is wary of China's increasing assertiveness in the region and would like New Delhi to help in strengthening its Navy and Air Force. The Vietnamese president's delegation signed several bilateral agreements in the fields of energy, education, technology, and homeland security to further strengthen relations.

India looks at Vietnam as a lynchpin in implementing its "Look East Policy" if not as an outright counter-weight to China. This strategy is similar to Beijing's efforts to use Pakistan as a cat's paw against India in South Asia.

But it's not just Vietnam that engages New Delhi's attention. Indonesia and Thailand are two other nations that are firmly on India's radar. Manmohan Singh's decision to attend the East Asia summit in Bali later this month and meet U.S. President Barack Obama there is part of a carefully planned strategy to send subtle signals to China that nations around Beijing's immediate periphery are India's partners as well.

One major indicator of India's new found desire to woo its Southeast and East Asia neighbors is New Delhi's deliberate decision to invite leaders from these countries to be chief guests at India's prestigious Republic Day parade on January 26 each year. While the presidents of South Korea and Indonesia graced the occasion in 2010 and 2011 respectively, India has now invited Thailand's first female prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, to be the honored at the 2012 parade.

Beijing may not react overtly to these strategic moves by India, which are designed to compete with, if not counter, Chinese influence in Asia. However, one would imagine a watchful eye is being kept in Beijing on these recent developments.

India Looks East | Flashpoints