21 June 2021: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

E. Editorials

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. The comrades and their divergent perspectives

Context:

• The article discusses the increasingly divergent perspectives of India and Russia in global geopolitics and analyzes its potential impact on bilateral relations.

Russia’s perspectives:

On India-China standoff:

• Russian President through his recent statement on the India-China border standoff and ongoing de-escalation talks had emphasized the need to debar any “extra-regional power” to interfere in the process.
• The foreign policy experts point out this as an indication of Russia’s indifference towards India’s legitimate concerns and the downplaying of China’s coercive military pressure against India.

On Quad and the Indo-Pacific strategy:

• Russia through its criticism of the Quad and the Indo-pacific strategy has been reinforcing China’s claim that the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad is aimed at containing Beijing’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Russia has rejected the Indo-Pacific construct in favour of the Asia-Pacific one on the grounds that the Indo-Pacific construct is primarily an American initiative designed to contain both China and Russia.

India’s deepening relationship with the West:

• Russia views the India-U.S. rapprochement as part of U.S. attempts to expand its zone of influence.

India’s stand:

On standoff with China:

• India claims the Chinese incursion and break from the status quo as being factors for the current standoff and terms China as the aggressor.
• China’s border moves seem to be part of its larger effort to undermine India’s global position and to reduce India to a state of isolation and impotence in global affairs.
• Given China’s increasingly assertive behaviour, which goes against all the conventional rules of international politics, India seems to be attempting to rally support for itself against Chinese hegemony.

On Quad and Indo-Pacific strategy:

• India’s support for the Indo-Pacific construct is an indication of India’s attempt to re-imagine a new geostrategic maritime role for itself beyond the confines of the Malacca Strait and the Gulf of Aden.
• India has repeatedly asserted that no country can have a veto on India’s participation in the Quad and it will be led by its national interest objectives.

On strategic ties with the U.S. led west:

• The bitterness and mistrust between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and China during the Cold War provided India leeway to use USSR as a counterweight against the Chinese. However, the disintegration of the USSR changed this. Russia was much weaker than the erstwhile USSR and incapable of helping India balance the potential threats from China and this pushed India to diversify its relationships with other countries as an external balancing strategy against China.
• Russia had been trying to build a trilateral grouping of Russia-India-China against a U.S.-led unipolar world. Though India did become a part of this grouping in the initial years, China’s dismissive attitude toward Indian capabilities, coupled with an emerging China-Pakistan nexus, prevented the success of this trilateral. India, instead, invested its diplomatic energies in rapprochement with the United States and has built a strategic partnership with the U.S.
• Given Russia’s inability to influence the India-China relationship and given the increasing hegemony of China, multilateral forums such as the Russia-India-China (RIC) grouping and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have little practical value for Indian diplomacy.
• India has become integrated in the global economic order and has strategic economic relations with the U.S. led West.
• India has shed its traditional reliance on Russia for arms imports and has started to buy sophisticated weapons from a wider global market including countries such as the U.S., Israel and France.
• As part of its external balancing strategy, India has also deepened its ties with Japan and Australia.
• The increasingly assertive behaviour of China seems to be only pushing India into a closer relationship with the U.S. which considers China a threat to its own global supremacy.

Other irritants in the bilateral relation:

• The deepening engagement between Russia and Pakistan has generated some unease in India. The increasing military cooperation via defence equipment sales and “friendship” exercises between the two armies point to the deepening of ties between the two countries.

For more information on Russia-Pakistan ties refer to:

CNA dated April 8, 2021: Russia to supply military gear to Pakistan

The author’s take:

• The article criticizes the current Russian foreign policy as being based on a flawed assessment of the current situation. It warns against obsessive preoccupation with Russia’s ‘status’ rivalry with the U.S.
• The article suggests that Russia in fact stands to gain immensely from the multilateralism that the Indo-Pacific seeks to promote, and being China’s junior partner only undermines Russia’s great-power ambitions.

Conclusion:

• Despite some great changes in the global and regional politico-security environment, India has been able to maintain amicable ties with Russia. However, the recent events seem to be straining this bilateral relation.
• The divergent perspectives of India and Russia have only increased over the last few years.
• While India continues to engage with Russia, it cannot endorse the Russian perspective on the Indo-Pacific and the Quad.
• The recent Geneva summit between the U.S. and Russian Presidents holds immense significance for India given that a normalisation of relations between Washington and Moscow will have a profound impact not just on the two countries but will also diminish Russia’s propensity to closely coordinate its South Asian policies with China.

For information on the recent Geneva summit, refer to:

CNA dated June 19, 2021: Cold peace

• The Russian attitude toward China’s growing power and influence will be the touchstone of Russia’s relations with India as an increasingly pro-Beijing Russia might adopt more aggressive blocking of India’s policy agendas.

For related information on India-Russia bilateral relations, refer to the linked article.

Q1. With reference to the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, which of the 
following statements is/are correct?

Q2. Consider the following statements with respect to Green Hydrogen:

Q3. Arrange the types of coal on the basis of carbon content from the highest to the 
lowest rank:

Q4. NISHTHA recently seen in the news is a

Q5. What is/are common to the two historical places known as Ajanta and Mahabalipuram? 
(UPSC 2016)

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

1. Evaluate the Centre’s latest move to engage with the political leadership in Kashmir. (250 words; 15 marks) (GS 2 Polity and Governance)
2. Russia’s uncritical advocacy of China’s global vision is what seems to be leaving India quite confounded. Discuss keeping Indian interests in mind. (250 words; 15 marks) (GS 2 International Relations)

Read the previous CNA here.