Shift in foreign policy approach

By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 1. In a subtle policy shift, the Government is asking diplomats and armed forces personnel to work jointly to promote key foreign policy goals.

Highly-placed Government sources say there is a clear realisation in decision-making circles that the military establishments, especially of key foreign countries, have to be drawn into the ambit of diplomacy. That means drafting personnel from the Army, Navy and the Air Force into delegations led by the Ministry of External Affairs officials. These military officers in turn are encouraged to establish contacts with their counterparts, determine and develop areas of common strategic interest until these are introduced as elements of a ``strategic dialogue'' at the official or ministerial level.

Aware of the need to synergise the MEA and the military establishment to promote larger security interests, the External Affairs and Defence Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, in consultation with his special adviser, Mr. Arun Singh, has made it mandatory to take a senior member of the armed forces, involved in perspective planning, in his delegations bound for a ``strategic dialogue'' abroad.

For instance, the Director-General of Defence Planning Staff, Lt. General B.M. Kapoor, was in his delegation to Australia in June. The visit which led to the initiation of a bilateral strategic dialogue also saw a member of the armed forces represented at this forum, though the delegation was led by the Joint Secretary (DISA) in the MEA, Mr. Sheel Kant Sharma.

The Defence Secretary, Mr. Yogendra Narain, and Vice- Admiral Madanjit Singh, Officer on Special Duty with the Defence Ministry, are heading for Canberra to identify a common strategic agenda.

The group led by Mr. Sharma, which interacted with the U.S. defence establishment during the visit to Washington by Mr. Jaswant Singh earlier this year, included Vice-Admiral Singh. The team met the U.S. Defence Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, and Mr. Paul Wolfowitz. Vice-Admiral Singh also interacted with the Vice- Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard B.Myers, who will take over as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from Gen. Henry H. Shelton later this year.

India is looking at developing a complex multi-track relationship, steered by South Block, with the U.S., Russia, France, Australia and Japan. Specifically, it wants to combine the diplomatic and military elements of its foreign policy to ensure it can exercise an influence in the strategic arc between the energy heartland of the Persian Gulf and the Malacca Straits - funnel at the heart of the East-West trade.

Realising that it cannot achieve its goals on its own, India is trying to work out, with some success, a relationship of ``cooperative security'' with the U.S. and other prominent players including Australia and Japan. A common concern for ensuring energy security, is therefore providing a strategic binding among these countries.

The Indian side is keen on learning from the experience of the developed world in the integrated military institutional arrangement capped by a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). This has been one of the running themes during the interaction with the Pentagon. The Australian experience with the CDS system is also expected to be studied.

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