22 March 2025 : Daily Answer Writing

Q1) Examine the geopolitical challenges India faces in South Asia despite its global rise. How can India navigate these challenges to strengthen its regional leadership? (15 marks, 250 words)

ANSWER

India’s global rise has been marked by economic growth, military capabilities, and participation in key international forums. However, its regional influence in South Asia faces significant geopolitical challenges despite these advancements. The South Asian region is not enthusiastic about aligning with India’s ambitions. In fact, it seems to be holding India back, partly due to the emergence of a powerful neighbor in the region, presenting a unique and challenging situation for India, unlike anything it has experienced before.

INDIA’S GLOBAL RISE

1. India’s aggregate power has grown over the past two decades — evident in robust economic growth, military capabilities, and a largely young demography.
2. Its inclusion in key global institutions such as the G-20, as an invitee at G-7 meetings, and active participation in multilateral groups such as the Quad, BRICS, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation further highlight its geopolitical significance and its powerful presence globally, even if it is not a member of the United Nations Security Council.
3. India’s global rise is also aided by growing international attention on the Indo-Pacific, a theatre that is pivotal to global strategic stability, where India has a central position, geographically and otherwise.
4. A major reason why the United States and its allies are keen to accommodate  India’s global interests including in order to push back China in the region.

GEOPOLITICAL CHALLENGES FACED BY INDIA IN SOUTH ASIA

1. Rise of China: China’s increasing economic and strategic presence in South Asia through initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) poses a direct challenge to India’s traditional influence.
2. Political Instability: The emergence of anti-India regimes or governments with shifting ideologies in neighboring countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka complicates India’s regional diplomacy.
3. Security Concerns: Persistent security challenges including cross-border terrorism from Pakistan and insurgencies in northeastern India strain India’s regional stability efforts.
4. Neighboring States’ Strategic Autonomy: South Asian nations increasingly balance their relationships between India and China to maximize economic and strategic benefits, often at India’s expense.
5. Its waning regional influence is caused by diminishing relative power (vis-àvis China), loss of primacy in South Asia, and fundamental changes in South Asian geopolitics.
6. The arrival of China in South Asia, the withdrawal of the U.S. from the region, and India’s tilt to the Indo-Pacific have shifted the regional balance of power in Beijing’s favour.
7. India’s regional decline is a product of the dynamics of comparative power, and geopolitical choices made by the region’s smaller powers. India’s smaller neighbours seem to find China as a useful hedge against India, for the moment at least. China’s rise will, therefore, mean that India may no longer be the most consequential power in the region.
8. Anti-India Regimes: One of the key dilemmas is the rise of politically anti- India regimes in South Asia. For instance, in the Maldives, the new government has taken an anti-India stance, explicitly asking Indian troops to leave.
9. Potential Ideological Shifts: The upcoming elections in Bangladesh, with the possibility of a Khaleda Zia-led government, add another layer to India’s political dilemma. The fear is that such a government could be ideologically anti-India, complicating diplomatic relations and regional stability.
10. Limited Choices: The absence of viable alternatives for South Asian states creates a dilemma. With China offering a non-normative alternative, India faces the challenge of adapting its approach to accommodate the changing dynamics in the region. This shift challenges India’s historical dominance in setting norms and political expectations in its neighborhood.

WAY FORWARD FOR INDIA

1. India must revisit some of its traditional conceptions of the region, ‘modernize’ its primacy in South Asia, and take proactive and imaginative policy steps to meet the China challenge in the region.
2. India must accept the reality that the region, the neighbours and the region’s geopolitics have fundamentally changed over the decade-and-a-half at the least.
3. India must focus on its strengths rather than trying to match the might of the People’s Republic of China in every respect. Fashioning a new engagement with the region that reflects India’s traditional strengths and the region’s changed realities is essential. Reclaiming Buddhist heritage is one such example.
4. India’s continental strategy is replete with challenges whereas its maritime space has an abundance of opportunities for enhancing trade, joining minilateralism, and creating new issue-based coalitions, among others. India must use its maritime (Indo-Pacific) advantages to cater to its many continental handicaps. Doing so could involve including India’s smaller South Asian neighbours to the Indo-Pacific strategic conversations.
5. India and its partners (the U.S., Japan, Australia, the European Union, and others) must find ways of engaging and partnering with Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Bangladesh as part of their larger Indo-Pacific strategy.
6. New Delhi should make creative uses of its soft power to retain its influence in the region. One way to do that is to actively encourage informal contacts between political and civil society actors in India and those in other South Asian countries.
7. There is a desire to join hands with external friendly partners both in the Indian Ocean and South Asia so as to deal with the region’s common challenges. This openness in New Delhi, and the desire of the external actors to engage the region, must be utilised to address the difficulties arising out of New Delhi’s regional decline.
8. Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy: Utilize India’s rich cultural heritage and soft power to foster people-to-people ties and enhance regional goodwill.
9. Multilateral Forums: Actively engage in regional multilateral forums like SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) to promote consensus-building and cooperation.

India’s foreign policy in South Asia faces crucial challenges amid China’s rise and shifting dynamics. India’s path to strengthening its regional leadership in South Asia amidst geopolitical challenges requires a multifaceted approach encompassing economic diplomacy, security cooperation, diplomatic engagement, and political outreach.

Read More – 21 March 2025 : Daily Answer Writing