Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
autonomy that nuclear weapons bestow upon us' so that it could pursue that goal 'without
distraction or external entanglement', he added, diplomatically stopping short of naming
China and Pakistan as the potentially distracting entanglements.
'So, while India is already a major economy in terms of size and ability to influence
prices and supply and demand in certain markets, it will still be a country of poor people
with overwhelming domestic priorities for an extended period of time. This will certainly
be true for the foreseeable future which is, at best, fifteen years,' said Menon. 'That is why
it is important to peg our goals and use of power to our immediate and overriding interest
in our domestic transformation. In other words, our condition and the state of the world
require us not to seek hegemony, or domination, or expansion, or strategic depth. None of
these serve our basic interest, even in a defensive sense. Being a bridging power, or a swing
state might, in certain circumstances. Power is the ability to create and sustain outcomes.
Weight we have, our influence is growing, but our power remains to grow and should first
be used for our domestic transformation.'
From Nehru to the present day (with Menon presumably reflecting the views of Man-
mohan Singh), it can be presented as a noble, well-honed and gradually developing cause
- though Menon admitted it could also be seen as a 'very selfish policy'. In this view of
history, India has moved logically and coherently from being an independent opinion-lead-
er under Nehru, to a pragmatic domestic-oriented player in the twenty-first century's era
of globalization, guarding and promoting its internal interests and staying out of trouble
abroad when it does not need to be involved. This means that it does not think it should
seek alliances with other countries (for example, as the UK does with the US), and it should
oppose interference in other nation's affairs, especially interference that is aimed at regime
change. If it is sometimes as selfishly hypocritical in choosing whom it supports as the
West is when it goes for regime change in unfriendly oil-rich states while ignoring the lack
of democracy in Bahrain or Sudan, so be it!
A Narrow Focus
Indian officials define the country's foreign focus as primarily on the neighbourhood,
stretching from the Middle East across South Asia to China and Southeast Asia and, further
away and to a lesser extent, the US. The actual focus is really much narrower and is driven
by a sometimes proactive (and more often reactive) policy in relation to Pakistan, which
stems from post-partition border disputes and tensions, plus the threats and reality of cross-
border terrorism. In South Asia generally, India has failed so badly to get onto co-operative
terms with any of its neighbours (apart from Bhutan) that China has seduced them and, in
so doing, has gradually encircled India.
