India will have to strike a balance to make an impact
Much has been written in the past few months on the going meetings as part of India’s G20 presidency, where she is trying to showcase her rich cultural and deep democratic historical foundation, to an international audience. Some critics may find India’s pitch to showcase its glorious cultural, living history, by hosting more than 200 meetings across nearly 50 key centres of socio-cultural importance in India, as an avoidable, extravaganza at the worst or, a political pitch for nationalist voices in the run-up to the general elections, at its best. However, quietly in the background India has been holding and hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders, whose presidency, it holds till the middle of this year.
The SCO is a group of eight countries representing the living bridge between Central Asia, South Asia and Eurasia. The grouping founded in 2001, consisting of only five members, has now grown to eight, with four more interested in full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia) and six “Dialogue Partners” (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey).SCO countries according to India’s Press Information Bureau statistics, represent, 42% of the world population and 25% of the GDP. It may be argued that a significant contribution to the index numbers comes from China, India and Russia who are permanent members of the SCO, however, the geo-strategic clout of the Eurasian and Central Asian nations can’t be ruled out.
India pitched for tourism development to be the key theme for the year 2023 under its presidency. It was well thought balancing act given the historical and cultural linkages between India and most of the other permanent members (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), while having, deep-rooted geopolitical conflicts with few members, such as Pakistan and China. As part of its presidency, India managed to nominate Varanasi as the first “cultural and tourism capital” of the SCO region, another strategic move. Varanasi, one of the oldest and continuously inhabited cities in the world, is home to several of the world’s most practised religions including Buddhism, and Jainism, besides, having key historical cultural significance for Hindus and Muslims. India took on the mantle of SCO presidency at a time when the Russia-Ukraine conflict had entered the sixth month and the world had started congregating under power blocs, similar to the cold war groupings. India, facing one of the worst military aggressions from China, threatening to alter India’s sovereign boundaries, is not sure if it can, have any meaningful dialogue with Chinese counterparts on multilateral platforms such as SCO. Meanwhile, Pakistan, another permanent member of SCO, and having historical differences with India, continues to remain a threat.
The war in Ukraine has exacerbated the situation, with Russia. China has doubled down in its support towards Russia, with President Xi Jinping making the first-ever state-level visit to Russia a few days back, taking the no-limits friendship between the two, a few notches higher. China and Russia are both members of G20, whose presidency India holds in 2023 and who, are trying to pool resources for a non-western/US-dominated world order. India has in the past two decades or so, shrugged off its cold war reluctance to distance itself from the US-led world order, and, moved into being a long-term strategic partner with shared values in democratic systems and processes with America. US and India's partnership has moved beyond a strategic defence level to critical, emerging technology, trade and economic cooperation, as well as being key players in the Indo-Pacific region to balance out an aggressive China. Meanwhile, historical defence cooperation between Russia and India continues, even as Russia due to the sanctions imposed, by the West has emerged as one of the largest suppliers of critical hydrocarbons for India. In the complex rubric of changing geopolitical strategies and interests, India will have to maintain a fine balance between its SCO and G 20 presidency if she intends to make any meaningful impact.
(The writer is a policy analyst)
