World better off with a multi-polar Asia

The relevance of looking/acting East has interestingly been renewed by domestic developments in India in the last two years. A quarter of a century ago, India turned in that direction at a time of crisis. Today, we look again but with considerable deliberation and after due diligence. The driving factor in doing so is a well-considered national strategy of transforming India into an industrial power. This is expressed through the Make in India initiative but supplemented by a raft of other campaigns. Skill India represents its HR facet; Digital India its communications; 100 Smart Cities its urban future, Swachh Bharat its broader environment; Start-Up India its entrepreneurial side, and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao an enabler that will lead to more female employment. An integrated take of these efforts would confirm that their overall thrust is similar to the developmental direction of many polities to our East. The economic and developmental ambitions that India is now pursuing require sustained partnerships of those who have traversed a similar path in the recent past. We need not just technology and capital but knowledge and best practices as well. In many ways, this country's future will lie in successful leapfrogging. The East has much to teach us in that regard. Paradoxically, a manufacturing correction is happening in India at the very time when those other economies are undertaking a services correction. Hopefully, we will arrive at a common ground that may bring us all even closer.

Japan and South Korea, along with Asean, stand out as natural partners in this context. It is, therefore, hardly surprising that they have been the focus of intensive Indian diplomacy. Both nations have already established strong credentials in India by virtue of earlier successful industrial ventures. But the expectation now is of a much higher order. We are looking at infrastructure development, scaling up industrial capacities, technology upgrading and consequently investment flows of a transformational nature. The realisation of agendas agreed upon with both nations actually hold that possibility. With Japan, they include the high-speed railway, additional industrial corridors, new industrial townships, ambitious FDI and ODA targets, an investment-led ODA approach and vigorous collaborations in critical sectors such as energy and skills. With South Korea, the focus is on their particular areas of strength such as ship-building, maritime transport, industrial parks, steel and smart grids. In fact, these two nations and Australia are the only three with which India holds "2+2" foreign and defence affairs talks. With Japan, security cooperation has made more rapid progress and is reflected in annual exercises, an agreed defence framework and discussions on equipment/technology transfers. India's approach to these relationships, and indeed to the entire region east of us, takes into account the need for a balanced and participative Asian security architecture. The world is better off with a multi-polar and multilateral Asia.

In any discussion of India's Act East policy, Sino-Indian ties are a subject of heightened attention. Part of the reason is the weight of history that this particular relationship carries on its shoulders. Some of it also arises from the great potential that it holds and the impact that its direction could have on regional and global politics. The report card of our ties for the last three decades is much stronger than many assume. From a situation of limited contacts and content, India-China relations have today transitioned out of their state of abnormalcy. We must give due credit to the efforts of successive governments on both sides who have ensured peace and tranquillity on the border, even as negotiations on its settlement continue. Difficult problems, some of them pertaining to sovereignty, have not been sidestepped. No less significant is the ability of the two nations to work together at global forums on developmental issues. That we meet and cooperate in mechanisms ranging from EAS, G-20 and SCO to BRICS, RIC and BASIC is not a small achievement. On the economic side, the rapid rise of trade with China has had a profound, if mixed, implication. While it has allowed some new capacities to be built in areas like telecom and power generation, it has also impacted negatively on others.

The current government has taken initiatives to address these challenges and strengthening the positive direction of ties. They include a more enthusiastic welcome of Chinese investments, establishment of industrial parks, collaboration in railways and a more liberal visa regime. A full realisation of the vision agreed upon between the leaders of the two nations in 2014-15 requires relations to be continuously nurtured.

Displaying mutual sensitivity to each other's concerns is very necessary in that context. There is an expectation in India that a partner like China would be appreciative of India's interests, especially when they are not in conflict with those of China. Combating terrorism is one such area and sanctioning of well-known terrorist leaders and organisations should not emerge as an issue of difference. Nor should reservations on developmental issues, such as India's predictable access to international cooperation and investments in the field of civil nuclear energy. It is imperative for the future of Asia, and indeed the world, that the two nations approach each other with strategic maturity.

When South Asia looks East, attention focuses on Myanmar, and increasingly, on Bangladesh. India's bilateral ties with both countries are strong, substantive and rapidly expanding. But we do need to reflect on the support that the international community could extend to these countries. Myanmar has taken some big steps in its democratic journey and the strengthening of its development work, national integrity and governance processes has a larger regional impact. In Bangladesh, secularism and pluralism are under stress and must be supported without hesitation. It is particularly important that we keep our eye on the overall direction of developments, rather than get excessively fixated with individual events.

This approach assumes more significance when it speaks for the entire region, not just for India. That puts a premium on the success of SAARC and progress in regional development. India, in recent years, has emerged as a champion of regionalism and is vigorously promoting more cooperation, connectivity and contacts. It has displayed a growing ability to be patient, flexible and creative in this regard. We are confident that most of our neighbours will appreciate that India is not only offering to share its prosperity but that this partnership improves their access and prospects. After all, a more cohesive and integrated South Asia will command greater value internationally.

Edited excerpts from a speech by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar at the East-West Centre International Media Conference in New Delhi on September 9