Nepal has been the indelible blot on the UPA government's otherwise laudable record in conducting major relations with China, Pakistan, the US and even Japan. On China, the UPA has brought to fruition some of the major nda initiatives. For one, in a remarkable step, India and China have enunciated a set of political parameters within which they would seek a political solution to the festering boundary issue. That this will be pursued as a strategic objective should logically accelerate the process. It is understood that there will be no exchange of settled populations and the boundary will follow well-marked geographical features. It is a practical approach and when brought to a successful conclusion, the map of India (as indeed China) would look markedly different from what we are accustomed to, corresponding more meaningfully with the operational reality on the ground. The issue of Sikkim has also been brought to a closure with the Chinese maps now showing Sikkim as a part of India. More importantly, there has been a positive reassessment in China of India in terms of its position in the world. Beijing is now comfortable with the idea of India finding a place in the UN Security Council.
Attempts have been made to pump life into India's stagnating relations with Japan. In a UPA-driven initiative, New Delhi and Japan have synchronised positions on the UN Security Council issue. Tokyo has sent out a clear message welcoming India into the arc of its economic activities. With India also indicating that it looks upon Japan, along with China, as one of the pillars of Asia, the stage is set for a range of engagement activities that breaks decisively with the past when Tokyo had looked upon India-Pakistan as a hyphenated relationship.
With Pakistan, ironically, the engagement promises to change from the acrimonious to a more co-operative agenda. A tentative roadmap includes an early breakthrough in Siachen and Sir Creek. Though the basic template here was laid out by the nda government, the UPA, creditably, didn't lose time in providing fresh momentum to the relationship. Notably, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf now echoes the call for a soft border between the two countries as an interim step before the deeper issues of divergences are addressed. The UPA now has to show whether it has the political maturity to ensure that the changing relationship makes a real difference for the people.
With the US, an intention has been announced to deepen the relationship, and here the impetus has come largely from Washington. Whether or not India can sustain the momentum here will be demonstrated during Manmohan Singh's visit to Washington in July. Yet, it is the US alone that has withheld a public endorsement of India's candidature to the UN Security Council.
