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Defence Diplomacy

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March 17, 2020

What is the issue?

  • India is currently facing international criticism for some of its actions.
  • The “defence diplomacy” which is at the centre stage in the pursuit of its foreign policy, has helped India to stay afloat.

What is defence diplomacy?

  • Defence diplomacy is a term used in international politics.
  • It refers to the pursuit of foreign policy objectives through the peaceful employment of defence resources and capabilities.
  • In earlier years, India hardly looked at military interactions as a means to further the national interest. But, this has changed.

How is defence diplomacy helping India?

  • India is currently under international criticism, especially from the muslim world, for some of its actions.
  • At the same time, its economy has also been sliding.
  • Defence diplomacy has helped India to stay afloat in this worrying environment.
  • It has taken the form of frequent and ambitious joint exercises with militaries of the region and beyond, port visits by warships, and so on.
  • While with most countries this has been not very significant, with the US in particular, and with Japan, the interface has been substantial.

What is India’s defence diplomacy strategy?

  • The Indo-Pacific has been repeatedly proclaimed as a region of mutual interest and our understanding of the term is different.
  • The precise purpose of the term “freedom of movement at sea” is to counter growing Chinese influence in the region.
  • With no other country with which India has defence cooperation at sea does the term Indo-Pacific form the basis of cooperation.
  • So, the one significant element of our defence diplomacy in the last decade has been the relationship with the US.
  • This has revolved on our purchases of military hardware from them.
  • This having been said, if defence diplomacy has become a key ingredient of our foreign policy as we aspire to move up in the global power chain, then it is all to the good.

How should India’s diplomacy be?

  • With China, India share disputed borders and a tense security relationship.
  • With Russia, a defence interface that goes back six decades stands in some difficulty now.
  • In the Muslim world, Iran cannot be easily ignored, nor Indonesia in the ASEAN, or Bangladesh next door.
  • With these countries, India needs to increase its defence interactions so long as India recognises its limitations.

What would be the impact of defence diplomacy?

  • India’s profile as seen from outside is now increasingly getting predicated on domestic issues within its borders.
  • As India is seeking to emerge as a major power, its domestic issues must mesh holistically with the desired international image.
  • Defence diplomacy can only take India thus far. But, it cannot, by itself, overcome the negatives.

 

Source: Business Standard

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