Seeking an active role

INDIA'S LONG QUEST for a meaningful role in world affairs seems to have acquired a sharper and more relevant focus in the context of the current international turbulence over the terrorist attacks in the U.S. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, has committed India to ``waging peace'' by acting in concert with the U.S. in a planned fight against international terrorism. This is probably inevitable, given India's own painful experience with externally sponsored terrorism. It is also a welcome sign of political maturity that India's major parties rallied behind the Prime Minister at a meeting convened in New Delhi on Saturday to discuss the country's options in the incrementally volatile international situation. In many ways, the air-borne terrorists, who caused a virtual meltdown of America's `capitalist' towers, have consigned the existing global `order' to a new melting pot of ideas and action plans. As a state braving waves of terrorist violence, credible indeed is India's profound indignation over the humanitarian catastrophe that a band of anti-U.S. barbarians caused in New York last week. A roll-call of victims, still very difficult to compile for logistical reasons, will cover not just Americans but also several other nationals including presumably a very high number of Indo-Americans as also non-resident Indians. Obviously, this emotive reason is in itself a powerful but not the sole justification for New Delhi's political inclination to play a significantly active role alongside the U.S. in the international war being planned against the identifiable hotbeds of fanatical terrorism that has acquired a globalised reach.

Strictly speaking, the Vajpayee administration has certainly been found wanting in articulating the right reasons for a dramatic shift in India's foreign policy. It is an error of judgment to openly or tacitly portray the present international crisis as an opportunity for India in realpolitik gamesmanship. For India, an arguable `strategic card' is to bank on America's military might to try and silence the guns of Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism during the course of a possibly total `war' on the motley votaries of terror. The Prime Minister could barely conceal such expectations as he took the nation into confidence in a televised address about his new U.S.-supportive initiative. So, it is of paramount importance that India should consistently and emphatically seek to protect its overall strategic autonomy as also its independent foreign policy while joining hands with the U.S. in the long unpredictable battle against the scourge of international terror.

A caveat of this magnitude is in tune with India's present stature in global politics. In the first few decades after independence, India had found itself alone, if not entirely alienated, in its moral crusade over such issues as global-scale nuclear and conventional disarmament. Some truly amazing contradictions of the Cold War politics of the time accounted for that harsh reality. With the present-day worldwide strategic environment becoming more hospitable to India's enlightened interest in fighting terror, New Delhi should not miss the chance to make its moral presence felt. So, there is not much ground for the shrill voices that are being raised in some political quarters in India to suggest that New Delhi should not join forces with the U.S. whatever be the cause. To say this is not to ignore two prime challenges that a U.S.-friendly India will face. First, the economic consequences of a possible war on terror must be addressed without panic. In any case, India cannot afford to be a `soft' state by staying on the sidelines. The second and equally important consideration is to study how best New Delhi can cooperate with the U.S. military forces without exposing India to the consequential dangers and risks. With Russia as also China and other major powers still mulling over America's compulsions, the critical mass of a possible international coalition against terror is still only in the making.

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Section  : Opinion
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