Lecture on “India and the Contemporary World Order” by Amb P S Raghavan

A lecture was organised by the Department of International Studies,Political Science and History in collaboration with NIAS.The lecture series opened with Dr Suba Chandran, Professor and Dean at School of Conflict and Security Studies welcoming all the guest luminaries as well as the participants. Dr Suba Chandran appreciated the recent significant growth in networking in the world of academia leading to ample interaction among many reputed Indian universities. He introduced Ambassador P S Raghavan who is the Convener of India's National Security Advisory Board. He is also the former Indian Ambassador to Russia, Ireland, and the Czech Republic. Ambassador Raghavan started the lecture by explaining the post-cold war mix where he mentioned of USA as a reluctant superpower. While discussing the expanding economic cloud of China, he categorized it as the nouveau riche emerging power. He explained how the aspirations of the small and medium countries are not accommodated in the cacophony of world disorder that has been created post-Cold War. Ambassador Raghavan spoke of the cross swords and cross currents in the realm of International Relations. He talked at length about US-China rivalry in the technical, economic, and military dimensions. He justified how the otherwise bitter relations between Russia and China turned friendly due to the US being a common opponent. He mentioned the engagement of the US and Russia in proxy wars across continents while in the meantime Russia and China are pushed to embrace each other. He questioned the role and existence of India amidst the cross-fire. He then spoke extensively about the national objectives and foreign policy and stressed the fact that the key role of foreign policy is to promote national interests. He also stated that growth, development, and internal harmony form the core national objectives of a country. He suggested the use of political, economic, geographic and diaspora assets to build influence on the neighbouring nations rather than exercising cultural dominance. According to him the domestic preoccupation of the government has prevented India from investing enough in the neighbourhood. He preferred the usage of respect and trust rather than the promotion of the idea of love to sustain friendly relations with neighbours. He further explained the position of Afghanistan vis-a-vis India where he narrated the good economic connection that was built with Afghanistan post the fall of Taliban rule. He stressed the importance of establishing India's strategic influence in Central Asia to check China's growing economic expansion in the area. He emphasized the period of the 1950s-1960s when India witnessed continuous roadblocks from China. He highlighted the major challenge posed by CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) to India's national security and shared a critical analysis of China's occupation of South-China-Sea islands. He also laid stress on China's Belt and Road Initiative which has resulted in an increase in Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean. He emphasized the asymmetry that exists between India and China on military, economic and political grounds. He explained the growing Chinese investment in Indian start-ups which further widens the gap that exists between India and China. According to him, India must be all set to bridge this gap while acknowledging the crucial significance of the Indo-Pacific region. He suggested that India should retard Chinese strategy in the Indian Ocean by making maritime and continental partnerships in the pursuance of Act East policy. He highlighted the Mission Sagar which is one of the few strategic steps taken by India to restrict such Chinese expansionist strategy. He also laid stress on the role of regional organisations like BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) to protect the Bay of Bengal region from any Chinese intrusion. He then dwelled on the US and the strategic partnership post-2000. According to him, the US is the most important ally for India and the International Civil Nuclear Cooperation opened a strategic juncture for India and the US relationship. He emphasized the role of the QUAD to contain China from trampling the interest of other countries. He also discussed the defence relations of India and Russia while describing India's increased interest in diversifying military acquisition. According to him, alignment with one country is not a panacea for all national security issues. He also highlighted the necessity of looking out for Turkey which has developed growing influence in Central Asia in recent years. He mentioned a few significant arguments that Covid reminded the world: a) the entire world has a China problem b) India's defence dependence and vulnerabilities c) Data security: why Tik Tok matters and d) 5G: challenges, threats, opportunities. While concluding the lecture he brought clarity to the debate of Thucydides vs Bipolarity and Multilateralism vs Tribal nationalism.