Date: 23/09/2022

Relevance: GS-2: Bilateral, Regional, and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Key Phrases: Quad, Indo-Pacific policy, Multilateralism, Western Hegemony, multi-alignments, strategic autonomy, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Regional Anti-Terror Structure (RATS), regional forums.

Why in News?

• When the Ukraine crisis began, Indian observers and officials pointed out that New Delhi would prefer not to take sides partly because its priority was elsewhere — China. Today, in the context of the SCO meeting, this decoupling appears difficult to sustain.

Quad as a result of Chinese assertiveness:

• The launch of the Quad was a reaction to China’s assertiveness in the region.
• The Chinese threat has been largely responsible for shaping New Delhi’s Indo-Pacific policy.
• India’s growing apprehensions had become palpable after the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative and the growing presence of China in India’s neighbourhood — as evident from China’s investments not only in Pakistan and Myanmar but also in Nepal and Sri Lanka. In this context, India felt encircled.
• India agreed to upgrade the Quad meetings at the ministerial level only after the Galwan attack in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in 2020.

Multilateralism by India:

• India was not comfortable with the anti-Chinese stand of the Americans — the ambivalence was a result of the desire not to alienate the country’s big neighbour.
• While the India-US rapprochement in the Indo-Pacific seemed to be more necessary than ever vis-à-vis China, India continued to believe in plurilateralism.
• A longstanding trilateral with Russia and China now coexists with one involving the US and Japan.
• The idea, here, is to “engage competing powers like the US, China, the EU or Russia at the same time”.
• India stands in favour of a multipolar world where the plurality of power centres would allow her to play one pole against the other.

Countering Western Hegemony:

• The stand on a multipolar world goes together with India’s reservations against the West’s past hegemony and the international order that got established after 1945.
• The West has imposed on the world norms that need to be dismantled: The key to Western durability till now is the set of institutions and practices that it progressively but firmly established in the period of its dominance.
• These are supported by narratives that serve the West well while diminishing its competitors.
• To get rid of the multilateral institutions shaped by the West in 1945 — or to control them — is also the objective of India’s regional partnerships like BRICS and SCO.

Importance of SCO for India:

• Strategic Autonomy:
  • SCO is part of India’s stated policy of pursuing "multi-alignments" and "strategic autonomy".
• Cooperation in various problems:
  • India's sovereignty and integrity are seriously threatened by the problems of terrorism, radicalization, and instability. The Regional Anti-Terror Structure (RATS), a counterterrorism organization within the SCO, would be helpful to India in this situation.
• Ties with Russia, China, and Pakistan:
  • SCO is a channel for India to deepen ties with Russia and India could use the forum to monitor and counter the influence of China and Pakistan
• Cordial relations with Central Asia:
  • India might broaden its strategic influence in Central Asia owing to the SCO. In Central Asia, India already has large soft power potential.
• Energy Security:
  • Access to the mineral and energy resources of the Central Asian nations is made possible by India's membership in the SCO, which can increase energy security.
• Connectivity:
  • India's goal of connecting to Europe via the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and the greater Eurasian region will be aided by India's membership in the SCO.

Why Russia matters to India?

• Defence:
  • India cannot free itself from Russian dependence in terms of military equipment — when more than two-thirds of its weapons come from Russia (or have been conceived in Russia), including sophisticated ones like the S-400.
  • But overcoming this dependence may be on India’s agenda if, true to its plurilateral doctrine, it aims mostly at diversifying its supply.
• Balance China:
  • New Delhi is keen to remain a partner of Russia to balance China — isolated, Moscow may be tempted to get even closer to China.

Does the West need India more than India needs the West?

• Weakening Russia:
  • Western sanctions weaken Russian sanctions to such an extent that Moscow not only turns to Beijing but also fails to deliver some of the weapons India needs.
  • And if Russia fails to win the Ukraine war, this pole will be so low that China will be the only non-western power that will matter.
• China’s policy vis-à-vis India:
  • While New Delhi had immediately come to the rescue of Colombo by offering some financial help after Sri Lanka got almost bankrupt, its pressure could not prevent its neighbour from welcoming a Chinese surveillance ship at the Hambantota port.
  • If China continues to put this kind of pressure on India, New Delhi may need the Quad more than some of the SCO countries.

Conclusion:

• India’s membership in both SCO and Quad is part of India’s strategy of “multi-alignments” and “strategic autonomy”.
• The objective of India is to promote a regional order based on sovereign equality, openness, and respect for international law.
• India can certainly play a major role in giving a new impetus to the functioning of regional forums like SCO and Quad in fulfilling the common goals for the sustainability of the world order.

Source: Indian Express

Mains Question:

Q. “India has successfully mastered the art of balancing between the Quad and the SCO.” Critically examine.