India wants Pakistanis
to Re-think its Creation
Sinha says Referendum
be held in whole of Pakistan
SAT
Report
LONDON:
Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha has called for a rethink
on the creation of Pakistan for those who doubt the accession
of Jammu and Kashmir to India. "Kashmir acceded to India
after Partition, and it was created by the Independence of India
Act passed by the then British Parliament," Mr Sinha said.
"The same act was used to create Pakistan.
"If
a plebiscite is held in Kashmir, why not in all of the subcontinent?"
the foreign minister said this
in response to a question by Mr Ijaz Hussein, former media adviser
to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on why India did not believe
in implementing the UN resolutions on Kashmir.
The
minister was speaking at the International Institute of Strategic
Studies, where he gave a talk on future directions of India's
foreign policy. Mr Sinha said it was up to Pakistan to decide
what kind of a long-term relationship it wanted with India. "The
main problem with the leadership in Pakistan is that it continues
to believe it can calibrate terrorism and dialogue simultaneously
and use terrorism as a pre-dialogue negotiating tactic.
"Pakistan
rejected the United Nations resolutions of 1948 and 1949. Suddenly
they have wisened up and are now demanding that those resolutions
be implemented," Mr Sinha said on Oct 31, 2002. "If
the accession of Kashmir is questioned, then reopen the question
of Pakistan's creation as well," he said.
"Such
tactics can never succeed and the sooner Pakistan realises this,
the better it will be for its own future and for peace in the
region," he said.
Later,
while answering questions, Mr Sinha pointed out how the world
community was quiet when Pakistan conducted its nuclear tests
in 1998; after Pokhran, however, sanctions were imposed on both
the countries. Mr Sinha told the "keepers of world peace,"
there is a lesson in this for everyone. "You cannot equate
India with Pakistan and put all of South Asia in a box."
Sinha evoked a round of applause from academicians, MPs and senior
bureaucrats at the International Institute of Strategic Studies
with his response to the aggressively put question.
Sinha
wanted his reply to be put on record. He said: "Kashmir acceded
to India as per the terms of the Independence of India Act , under
which the country was also divided and Pakistan was created. If
referendum has to be held why only in Kashmir. It must be held
in the whole of the sub-continent as to whether the people want
one or two nations."
The
following the full text of his address, Titled: Future Directions
Of India's Foreign Policy:
It
is an old aphorism that the more things change, the more they
remain the same. But if there is one thing that can be said with
certainty about the 21st century, it is that it will be fundamentally
different from the 20th.
New
Realities
The dominant themes of the last century were issues such as colonialism,
apartheid, and the Cold War. Countries pursued international relations
through the prism of the East-West divide. This divide was aggravated
by an ever widening North-South gap, with attendant political
and economic tensions.
The
Cold War has now been consigned to the dustbin of history, colonialism
has been eradicated, apartheid has been banished and the supremacy
of democracy established in much of the world. India played an
important role in these processes through its initiatives and
by its activism in international organisations like the UN, NAM
and the Commonwealth. But the international community is still
not at the point where we can proclaim the "end of history".
As old ideological conflicts have died down, new challenges have
emerged to engage our energies and attention.
India's
Foreign Policy
Where does India fit into a world being shaped by the realities
of the 21st century? And what are the parameters on which India's
foreign policy should be based so that it can respond effectively
to the challenges of the new millennium?
India's
foreign policy has shown elements of both constancy and change
over the last five decades. While we have preserved the basic
principles that were enunciated by the founding fathers of the
Republic, we have also crafted creative responses to the challenges
of the post Cold War and the post globalisation world. This has
been made possible, in large part, because on foreign policy and
national security matters, our country has had a broad national
consensus, cutting across all political divides, ever since independence.
Those
who decry the absence of a tradition of strategic thought in India
would do well to go through a 2300 year old Indian treatise called
Arthashastra. Its author, Kautilya, probably ancient India's greatest
strategic thinker, had enunciated six forms of state policy called
the Circle of States. He declared that peace, war, neutrality,
show of force, alliance and making peace with one and waging war
with another are the six forms of state policy. A close examination
would indicate that nothing much has really changed over the last
2000 years and that inter-state relations are still based very
much on the six fold policy enunciated by Kautilya. We live in
an era of strategic uncertainties where conflict between nations
is still a fact of life. What has changed, perhaps, is the manner
in which we wage war and seek peace.
Just
as Kautilya talked of the Circle of States, a useful conceptual
framework for the consideration of India's foreign policy would
be to view it as consisting of three concentric circles around
a central axis- the first of our immediate region, the second
of the larger world and the third of over arching global issues.
Global
Issues
Let
me start with the outer circle first - that of global issues.
In India we have an ancient Sanskrit dictum - Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
- which translates roughly as "the World is one Family".
We can see now how relevant this dictum has become, as global
inter-dependence has become the buzz word of the 21st century.
Only
through a framework of concerted international cooperation can
we confront and, eventually hope to defeat, the global challenges
to our common future such as terrorism, drug trafficking, environmental
degradation, the AIDS pandemic, population growth, poverty and
food and energy shortage, to name but a few.
Promoting
Democracy
One
of the fundamental pillars of our foreign policy, based on our
status as the world's largest democracy, has been the promotion
of the democratic way of life. Democracy has proved to be, by
far, the best form of governance, especially in multicultural,
multi-religious, pluralistic societies. Sustainable development
requires governance that is democratic, both in form and substance.
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has used the experience of India to
illustrate this. A sub-continent plagued by famine during its
colonial history changed its destiny after opting for democracy
- it continued to experience crop failures, but never a famine.
Why? Because, democratic governance, with all its elements, has
to be accountable to its people.
Democracy
can also be compared to a very delicate flower. Any rough handling
can cause it to wither. Those who talk of "controlled democracy"
or "sustainable democracy" are, in effect, destroying
the concept and negating its benefits.
Terrorism
While
authoritarian regimes and dictatorships have always been threats
to democracy, the biggest challenge to democratic societies today
is posed by the scourge of international terrorism. The ideological
'isms' of the 20th century have been replaced by an 'ism' which
is the repudiation of all ideologies, and that is terrorism. Terrorism
rejects all established treaties, boundaries, limitations and
norms, whether geographic or moral. For this reason, it marks
a huge regression in the human condition, from civilization to
barbarity, from the rule of law to the rule of the jungle.
We,
in India, have been experiencing cross border terrorism for over
two decades, first in Punjab, then in Kashmir as well as in other
parts of the country. In the last 20 years, more than 60,000 Indian
lives have been lost to terrorism. But it took September 11 to
bring the global reach of terrorism into the collective consciousness
of the world.
It
is a self evident truth that democratic, multicultural societies
are the prime targets of terrorism and are also the most vulnerable
to its attacks. Terrorists exploit the civil liberties, religious
tolerance and cultural diversity in our countries. They seek to
destroy our democratic fabric by fomenting sectarian divisions
and cultural tensions and ultimately deprive us of that very freedom
which they have exploited.
It
is also a fact, often ignored, that the sponsorship, bases and
finances for terrorism come from totalitarian military or theocratic
regimes. They nurture and support extremist terrorist groups to
further their political agenda. It is here that we should look
for the roots of terrorism. Those who keep harping on the "root
causes" of terrorism should recognize that they are found
in the military adventurism and religious extremism promoted by
totalitarian regimes.
"There
must be no hiding places for terrorism or terrorists; no hiding
places for their money and no semantic hiding places either. The
distinction some claim between terrorists and freedom-fighters
is false and dangerous. The victims enjoy no such distinction.
There must be no such distinctions either in international law".
Ladies & gentlemen, these are not my words but those of my
good friend, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
We
have been confronted with the same menace in Jammu & Kashmir
for a decade and more. The recent elections in the state, where
45% of the electorate braved a sustained campaign of violence
and intimidation by Pakistan backed terrorists, and in which more
than 800 people lost their lives, was a victory of not only the
ballot over the bullet but a victory for democracy itself over
terrorism and extremism. I believe that the commitment of the
people of Jammu & Kashmir to democracy deserves to be applauded
and commended.
The
world now accepts that terrorism can be tackled effectively only
with a global and comprehensive approach. UN Security Council
Resolution 1373 shows the right direction. However, the world's
democracies have to co-operate effectively in its implementation
and ensure compliance of other countries. Double standards in
dealing with terrorism will not do. This requires collective political
will, undiluted by short-term political, military or economic
calculations. We cannot condone terrorism somewhere, while condemning
it elsewhere, because this leniency will boomerang on all of us.
We have to recognise that the September 11 attack on the World
Trade Centre, the December 13 attack on the Indian Parliament,
the October 12 attack in Bali, and the recent terrorist atrocity
in Moscow are all part of a single continuum, of one global arc
of terrorism, and if we are to conquer this menace, we have to
systematically choke off the four crucial lifelines of terrorist
groups: refuge, finances, arms and ambivalence on the part of
the international community.
Nuclear
Issue
I
am aware that there are critics who question India's decision
to go nuclear in 1998. My government believes that the overt exercise
of the nuclear option by India has helped remove potentially dangerous
strategic ambiguities in the region. It has enhanced the strategic
space of the country and granted to it the needed autonomy. This
does not imply any complacency. On the contrary it emphasises
India's awareness of and commitment to greater restraint. That,
amongst other reasons, is why we have sought to reassure countries
in the region that our tests do not alter the essentially defensive
character of our security policy. We have shown this through the
announcement of our intention to maintain only a minimum credible
deterrent, a policy of no-first-use and a voluntary moratorium
on further explosive nuclear underground testing. Mindful of our
increased responsibilities we have also sought to increase the
scope of confidence building measures with our neighbours.
Moreover,
our decision to acquire a credible nuclear deterrent has not deflected
us from our commitment to the global elimination of weapons of
mass destruction and our belief that peace between nations in
this new century is best guaranteed by nuclear disarmament, and
not nuclear deterrence. India will continue to take the lead in
formulating genuine multilateral disarmament initiatives, and
in their implementation. We believe that just as we have been
able to outlaw chemical weapons and biological weapons in a global,
uniform and non-discriminatory manner, we can outlaw nuclear weapons
on the same basis.
Small
Arms
Simultaneously,
there is an equal urgency in attending to the proliferation of
small arms and light weapons and their easy availability with
non-state actors. This trade must come to an end, not through
policing but by an international, legally binding compact that
all countries should adhere to.
Economic
Policy
Economic
policy is a fundamental pillar of foreign policy. Having had the
privilege of serving as India's Finance Minister, I can say through
personal experience that an essential underpinning to the weight
and vibrancy of our international role is the economic strength
of the country. Our ambitious growth plans, the second generation
of our economic reforms and the fiscal discipline which we are
pursuing vigorously are meant to achieve this. The Indian economy
has been one of the fastest for the last two decades. Our GDP
has grown at an average annual rate of 6% over the last decade.
Despite a global recession, India's growth prospects are promising.
Our objective is to double the per capita income in the next ten
years. We are at the very epicenter of the Knowledge Revolution
and the Indian IT industry is on track to achieve its long term
aspiration of US$ 50 billion in export revenues by 2008. India
has about 30% of the global workforce of software professionals
and approximately 35% of software workers and entrepreneurs in
the Silicon Valley are from India. In fact, one Silicon Valley
joke is that the I in the IT stands for Indians!
India's
foreign policy is geared towards promoting a greater understanding
of the legitimate needs of all developing countries. It is difficult
to pursue enlightened approaches to development in a world where
ODA levels are falling, protectionism is on the rise, terms of
trade are stacked in favour of the rich, debt burdens have spiralled,
corporate governance need urgent re-definition, and the volatility
of international capital transfers has affected productive investment
flows to the South. It is depressing to note the statistics given
in the Human Development Report of 2002, that 2.8 billion people
still live on less than $2 a day and the richest 1% of the world's
people receive as much income each year as the poorest 57%. Industrial
country tariffs on imports from developing countries are four
times those on imports from other industrial countries. In addition,
as is well known, OECD countries provide $1 billion a day in domestic
agricultural subsidies, which is more than 6 times what they spend
on ODA for developing countries.
Democratization
Of International Institutions
What this highlights is an urgent need to reorient international
financial institutions to the needs of developing countries. And
this will not be possible unless changes are made to the governance
structures of these institutions. We need to readjust the structures
of decision-making in international bodies to reflect contemporary
realities. We cannot hope to foster a democratic culture in the
world until the principal international institutions are themselves
democratised and made more representative. This is especially
true of the UN. The democratization of the UN Security Council
to better reflect current day geo-political realities is one of
the key reforms required to maintain and enhance the relevance
of the United Nations.
India's
Neighbours
Let me turn now to the first circle of our foreign policy, that
of our immediate neighbourhood. India has always sought to maintain
good and friendly relations with all its neighbours and we do
have excellent relations with all - except Pakistan, which has
uniformly repaid our peaceful overtures with hostility.The issue
here is very clear. We want a peaceful, a prosperous and a stable
Pakistan. But Pakistan has to decide what kind of long-term relationship
it wants with India. We are prepared to resolve all outstanding
issues with Pakistan, including Jammu & Kashmir, through a
process of bilateral dialogue but we cannot accept the promotion
of terrorism as an instrument of State policy. We have repeatedly
extended the hand of friendship to Pakistan. But when our Prime
Minister went to Lahore, Pakistan responded with Kargil. And when
we invited General Musharraf to Agra, he wasted the opportunity
by grandstanding before the press. The main problem with the leadership
in Pakistan is that it continues to believe that it can calibrate
terrorism and dialogue simultaneously and use terrorism as a pre-dialogue
negotiating tactic. Such tactics can never succeed and the sooner
Pakistan realises this, the better it will be for its own future
and for peace in the region.
With
China, we continue to discuss the boundary question regularly,
while also maintaining meaningful dialogue and diverse cooperation
in all other areas. We have resumed our close traditional and
civilisational links with Afghanistan. We are participating energetically
in the reconstruction of Afghanistan and continue to assist the
Transitional Administration in the task of restoring peace and
stability to that troubled land. In Sri Lanka, we wholeheartedly
support the ongoing peace process and hope that it will mark a
real turning point and that the aspirations of all communities
will be addressed within a unitary framework.
Wider
World
I
come now to the second circle, that of India's engagement with
countries outside its region. Learning the lessons of the Cold
War and drawing from the experiences of the Nonaligned Movement,
we believe that a stable global political equilibrium can only
be achieved through a multipolar and cooperative world order.
We
are actively developing our relations with the broader world on
this basis. Our strategic partnership with Russia reflects our
convergences on bilateral, regional and international issues.
There is a new warmth and candour in our relations with USA. We
have excellent bilateral political and economic interaction with
countries of the European Union and institutionalized annual India-EU
Summits, the last one having taken place this month in Denmark.
Southeast Asia, Asia-Pacific, Central Asia, the Gulf and Iran
are special areas of our focus. Today, India is implementing a
'Look East' policy which is underpinned by important economic
considerations. Some significant steps in the pursuance of this
policy have been taken with the admission of India as a full dialogue
partner of ASEAN and a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum, in
1996. The first India-ASEAN summit next month will mark a new
level of our engagement with the region.
India-UK
Relations
Within
the EU, our relationship with the UK is a very special one, shaped
by two and a half centuries of historical association. Today,
the relationship is entering a new phase based on shared values
and common interests. The four meetings between the Prime Ministers
of the two countries in the last 12 months are a testimony to
the strength and vitality of the bilateral relationship. The New
Delhi Declaration signed in January this years embodies this new
partnership. Today India and the UK have ongoing and robust cooperation
in diverse fields such as counter-terrorism, UN Reform, UN Peacekeeping,
Science & Technology, education, environment and defence.
Our trade and economic relations with the UK are also expanding.
Bilateral trade has already touched the level of £ 5 billion
and our aim is to double this in the next four years.
The
large and vibrant community of Indian origin in the UK, which
now numbers approximately 1.3 million, is also making an active
contribution to the economic, political and cultural life of Britain.
Chicken Tikka Masala, I am told, has become the national dish
of Britain and Bollywood films are now regularly entering the
Top Ten here.
Indian
Diaspora
And
this brings me to a fourth circle, that of the Indian diaspora
which continues to retain a significant link with the mother country.
An important role of India's foreign policy is to ensure the continued
welfare and well being of the 20 million people of Indian origin
who live and work outside India in 110 countries, within the framework
of the laws of the countries where they live.
Conclusion
Ladies
and Gentlemen, I hope I have been able to give you some pointers
to the directions in which India's foreign policy is headed in
the 21st century.
A
perceptive observer has said that great powers are made not just
by their material capacities but also by their dispositions, that
is, by their willingness to articulate a vision of a preferred
world and to accept the burdens of shaping that vision. As representative
of one sixth of humanity and an active player in the UN, India
has always shown the disposition to tackle international challenges
and, in concert with other like minded countries, is prepared
to do all that it can for the creation of a safer and better world.
This journey must continue, because this journey's end has no
end.
