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Akhilesh's Win & Foreign Policy- Abhishek M. Chaudhari

This is the period when the domestic focus is on the state elections results with UP results

getting focussed attention. The election verdict is changing the discourse of national politic

with new equations of alignments and realignments.The external environment and subsequent foreign policy changes needed to be considered at

this juncture. In recent past, India witnessed the sub-regional forces asserting themselves in

the sphere of Indian foreign (and security) policy, especially the South Asia neighbourhood

policy.

Prime Minister Singhs September 2011 visit to Dhaka, that should have been a major

achievement of Indias bilateral relations, went off the tracks thanks to the stance adopted by

the newly-elected Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamta Banerjee. The anti-Sri Lanka stand

of Tamilnadu parties is forcing the Centre to rethink its long adopted strategy on human rights

violation.

The West Bengal-Bangladesh or Tamilnadu-Sri Lanka linkages offer the vision of regional

economic integration. Developing better connectivityroad, rail and maritime, including the

riverswill dramatically enhance the prosperity and human security indicators for the entireregion that extends from Indian Northeast and Myanmar to the island country of Sri Lanka

and Indian Ocean.

However, this cannot happen without strategic understanding in both spheres of Delhi and

Kolkata Chennai, of the trade, economy, environment, security linkages. Reviving the pre-

1947 transport linkages between Kolkata-Dhaka-NE India-Myanmar would help the entire

region. But to realise this goal, Kolkata and Chennai must be a willing stakeholder in this

vision.

Similarly, the Uttar Pradesh is relevant state in relation to Nepal whether the issue is

connectivity or harnessing hydro power potential. But unless Lucknow become partners withDelhi in this endeavour, these foreign policy objectives are unlikely to be realised. The

emphatic win of Samajwadi Party should be seen through this prism. The swearing in of

Young CM Akhilesh Yadav offers a rare opportunity. Showing interest in foreign policy can

be good demonstration of will and can signify a welcome change in foreign policy

formulation in India.

Illustrations by Hadimani, Outlook Magazine

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There is need for individual states to acquire this degree of awareness about foreign policy

issues. The necessity is not only for border states but also for other states. The Globalisation

is enforcing multiple linkages of states with rest of the world. More so often these linkages

are economical in the form of FDI, aid etc. These investments often have strategic angle,

which state government may not comprehend. This required special expertise, which is

available at the central Ministry of External Affairs. To bridge the gap, over last decade or so,the Ministry of External Affairs has mooted a proposal to post Indian Foreign Service (IFS)

officers in individual states to provide state capitals this expertise. Ho wever, this didnt

happen. The issue needs to be revived and state should be encouraged to discuss foreign

policy issues in a regular manner.

By,

Abhishek M. Chaudhari

Chaudhari.abhishek@gmail.com

http://abhishekchaudhari.blogspot.in/

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