The power dynamics of nation-states around the world have undergone a tremendous change in the twenty-first century. Within this shifting global landscape, India has the opportunity to put in place a new framework for its own and that of developing countries. The Republic of India is now considered one of the emerging Global Leaders of the world, besides a fast-growing economy. India has advantages in the fields of agriculture, space technology, a relatively young and dynamic population, good foreign relations, robust democracy and competent armed forces.
Dr. Ashok Sangappa Alur, Vice Chancellor, Kodagu University
a 6 mins read.
Global Power Structure
Today, soft power is seen as the key component of a country’s overall growth and development. It has the power to strengthen a community’s commitment, and resolve and provide a country more control over its international affairs. India has achieved diplomatic victories and advanced the country’s national objectives by leveraging India’s unique cultural diplomacy wealth, such as the diaspora, Yoga, Buddhism, and economic support. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has decided to support a “soft power matrix” to assess the success of the country’s soft power outreach. India is well aware of the significance of cultural engagement and needs to make a few more efforts to make its culture appealing to the rest of the world.
It has been a phenomenal 77 years since Independence. Now, seventy-seven years down the road, that fearful query has been replaced by a far more hopeful one, namely, ‘Will India Become a Global Leader?’ The relevance, importance, and impact of soft power are impossible to ignore. The great advantage of using ‘soft power’ is that it ‘does not cost anything’. Using ‘soft power’ a country need not make concessions: it simply gets its way – softly. A due credit goes to her founding fathers and Constitution writers.
They did not leave any loopholes in the Constitution. They established a responsible legislative body to make laws and new policies, an executive body to execute various policies enacted by legislation and an independent judiciary to safeguard the Constitution and the fundamental rights of all citizens. Global power politics is a serious game requiring countries which think and act big. Given its many attributes, India belongs to this group which has been trying to increase its ability to get things done.
The global power dynamics are believed to be shifted towards multipolar, from the other end some believe that world politics is still unipolar. Wherever this debate may lead, it is important to acknowledge that the world is very curious to know the rise and decline of state and non-state actors, and the constant fluctuation in the global power structure. Due to the change like multilateralism global politics is in strategic flux and has resulted in plurilateral initiatives. These initiatives have questioned the integrity of multilateralism, also contributed eventually to the emergence of multipolarity.
Global High Table
India planted its foreign policy in the stronghold principles as a result it was able to acclaim its status formidably as an idealist and was able to influence many third-world developing and underdeveloped countries. India being a champion proponent of democracy and human rights, was able to establish its credentials on several platforms. Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is one such platform that created scope for India to make other states believe in its leadership. India strongly embarked on its voice and representation in international as well as global platforms thereby becoming the face of Global South.
From the other end of the spectrum, India was able to be a regional actor and not beyond in many instances due to its internal and external challenges. However, eventually, India converted these lacunas into strength. From the post-Cold War period, India focussed on building a stable economy. These factors facilitated India its position internationally to move towards upward mobility. Thereby India began to be identified as a ‘Middle Power’. Before this India’s credibility over natural resources, material well-being and military capacity had scourged its drive to become a powerful actor in the diplomatic realm.
It is interesting to note that India from being a ‘Middle Power’ is now slowly leaping towards the global high table and thereby entering into an elite circle in international relations. India was initially carrying its foreign policy on a one-to-one basis and also on multilateralism. However, the present nature of India’s foreign policy is ‘multi-vector’, which has its base in the past. India has been following this even during the Cold War period, as it did not side with any of the power blocks. The nature of relations has become more hybrids the scope to side with one country or with one alliance is ruled out. India is an integral part of QUAD while it is also key member of BRICS and SCO. All these examples mean that India works on a ‘multi-vector’ model and this creates more scope to bargain in the global high table.
Driving Factors
Multilateralism- The multiple facets that influence India are
- Nuclear: India being a predominant nuclear state in the region has asserted its stand firmly against Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and Comprehensive (Nuclear) Test Ban Treaty besides economic sanctions. This stand is a strategically bold and deliberate move of India to make a strong voice to be heard in the international sphere.
- From Look to Act East Asia: India has been a regional power and wishes to extend its influence in the nearby neighbouring counties, especially towards Southeast Asia. This progress is an indication of India’s influence in the region.
- Economic: (WTO/GATT) In the post-Uruguay 1990s and Doha Round 2001 India strongly pitched its points against the developed countries priorities. India opposed the inclusion of labour, environmental standards, competition, investment, trade facilitation and government procurement on the WTO agenda. This created India to be the hotspot in the pharmaceutical world and was proved right during Covid-19.
- Military procurement and strategic positioning: India has continuously placed its need for military sustainability, so it is behind many bilateral agreements with the US, UK, France, Germany, Israel, Russia and others. India stands third in the world on military expenditure (worth $83.6 billion in 2023) after the US and China. This speaks to the volume of importance India shows over military self-sufficiency. Its emphasis on maritime security led to the Sagarmala project and BIMSTAC is the move India wishes to counter China’s OBOR project.
- Climate Change: The 1992 Rio Summit and Copenhagen conference addressed the challenge before the world in tackling climate change. Developed states say developing states are liable for taking measures against climate change. Counter to it, India representing developing states firmly demands that developed countries finance climate change measures.
- UN Security Council and G4: India is in the crew of Brazil, Germany and Japan together forming G4 are the drive for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. India’s interest in the Security Council is presented on many platforms and is perceived as a game-changer in international politics, as it impacts decision-making mechanisms in favour of its national interest in the global high table.
Critical Evaluation
India is stretching out to the fullest capacity to score points in the global high table through all kinds of diplomatic means. India has performed effectively in ‘finance diplomacy’ thereby contributing to international relations. Apart from that India wishes to be a ‘canny negotiator’ given its credibility in international relations as a promising actor. India will be able to carry this role because of its normative and soft power stature. Adding to it, India is banking on ‘Vasudeva Kutumbakam’ thereby wishing to bring all under the notion of a single family.
The other side of the spectrum is that India is pushing all levels of connections ranging from bilateral (Russia, Japan, Israel, Brazil, South Africa, China and others) to regional (SAARC, ASEAN, EU, AU and others), blocks (BRICS, IBSA, Quad, Shanghai Cooperation and others) and to multilateral (the UN, WTO, IMF and others). These multidimensional relations that India carries as pointed out earlier are in the ‘Multi-vector’ model. India voted in favour of the US against Iran’s nuclear policy in the IAEA, although India justifies its own nuclear policy.
Likewise, India prioritises its stand as in the case of China and the US as pointed out above in the context of BRICS and QUAD. So, critics point out that India has connected with many actors and prioritised its national interest over the larger interest. This self-centred position will not facilitate India to have a better position in the global high table. Adding to it, India is criticised for being a semi-peripheral state voicing in between developed and underdeveloped nations’ interests and finding its priorities addressed through it. India has also been criticised for not being able to reach out to the larger global issues that are not confined to its zones or priorities or other nation’s issues.
Shared Values
Power is, not simply the “ability or right to control people or things”, but crucially it is also the possession of influence over others and the “ability to act or produce an effect”. Ultimately, soft power is the ability to convert states rather than coerce them, or simply “get others to want what you want”, which is achieved by proving your shared values and norms.
The strength of a nation in bringing others on-side can be said to rest broadly upon its culture, economy, political values, foreign policies, quality of life, robust academic institutions, and rule of law. The first decade of the twenty-first century saw the chants of the rise of an Indian superpower. Therefore, it is logical to infer that India is emerging as a global leader in the 21st century due to its all-round development.
(Dr. Ashok Sangappa Alur, Vice Chancellor, Kodagu University, Karnataka Government. The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The News Analytics Journal.)
