External Affairs Minister's Speech on "India's Foreigen PolicyToday" at Peking University in Beijing, China
I am honoured to have this opportunity to speak at PekingUniversity. My joy at being here today has several reasons. This University isno doubt one of China's most prestigious educational institutions. It is also atthe forefront of promoting India studies in China. The work pioneered byrenowned scholars like Professor Ji Xianlin and Professor P.C. Bagchi in thebeginning of the last century is being carried on by scholars in thisUniversity’s Centre for India Studies. The University is also celebrating the110th anniversary of its founding. On this occasion, I offer my felicitations tothe students and faculty of Peking University.
India and China are among the world’s great civilizations. We have madeseminal contributions to humanity’s past and stand today at the cusp of re-mouldingits future. Throughout history, we have had deep respect and regard for eachother. Even though our particular conditions were different, our two countrieshave learnt from and given to each other freely. This exchange has resulted inan enrichment of our peoples’ lives.
It is this wisdom that we will need to harness as we emerge in the 21st century.I foresee this as a century of great opportunities. Some are new or newlyrecognized -- the challenge of climate change, for instance. Other challenges,like food and energy security, have been faced by our forefathers. How we worktogether and with others may determine whether humanity can collectivelyovercome these challenges so that this century becomes better for us all. Ibelieve that India-China relations will be one of the more significant factorsthat will determine the course of human history in the 21st century. Let metherefore outline the contours of how India sees the world around it.
No country’s foreign policy can be divorced from theimperatives of national interests and priorities. For India, our foremoststrategic objective is to develop our country and to bring the fruits ofdevelopment to our people. This objective requires an enabling externalenvironment and enhanced engagement with the rest of the world. This, in turn,can only be done effectively in a stable and peaceful external environment.India has a long-standing and deeply ingrained conviction that the world is onelarge family -- "vasudhaiva kutumbakam" -- as our classical texts callit.
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India's engagement with the world is not only to preserve peace andstability. It is also to contribute to a world order in which peace and progresscan be sustained. We believe that India is a factor of stability and a voice ofmoderation in the world. We remain anchored to the principles of "Panchsheel",which were jointly articulated by India and China. The precepts of"non-violence" and "tolerance" have deeply infused ourcivilization. The great philosophical traditions that emerged from India,including Buddhism, preached these basic truths as essential for mankind’sprogress. It is not surprising therefore that our foreign policy reflects theseideas and ideals.
We have an independent foreign policy based on the principles of non-alignmentlaid down by our first Prime Minister. All successive governments of allpolitical shades have adhered to these principles. We guard our strategicautonomy and stand by the principles of independence and freedom of action inexternal relations. This has, however, not prevented us from developingfriendships and good relations with all the major countries. We believe this isthe strength of our foreign policy. Friendship between India and any onestrategic partner is not at the expense of relations with any third country oranother strategic partner. Our ties are not a product of strategic expediency,but of a long term vision.
India actively pursues cooperative arrangements. We recently held theIndia-China-Russia trilateral meeting. Also, for the first time, the ForeignMinisters of India, China, Russia and Brazil had a stand-alone meeting todiscuss issues of common interest. Our participation in ASEAN and ARF, ourpresence as an observer in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and ourengagement with the ASEM and the East Asia Summit are positive and forwardlooking. India's political and economic ties with the Asia-Pacific region aregrowing. Through our "Look East" policy, we are making further stridesin strengthening our relations with the countries of this region.
Our foreign policy aims to strengthen our relationships not only with all themajor powers, but with emerging economies in Asia, Latin America and Africa aswell. We also give great importance to restoring and strengthening thetraditional linkages in our extended neighbourhood. India has had historical andcivilizational affinities to peoples of East and South East Asia, Central Asia,East Africa and the Indian Ocean region for more than two millennia. We arerestoring connectivity and building economic interdependence with them again.
Our immediate neighbourhood is naturally of great importance to us. We are tiedto it by geography as much as by historical, cultural and other affinities.Through the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, we are workingwith all our neighbours to build a South Asian economic community and restoretraditional cross-border linkages. We are conscious of the fact that ourdestinies are linked with those of our neighbours. It is, therefore, naturalthat we seek a peaceful periphery, within which to concentrate on thetransformation and development of India.
It is in this overall context that I want to talk of ourrelations with China. There is no doubt that we have steadily improved ourrelations. In 2005, we established a Strategic & Cooperative Partnership forPeace and Prosperity. Our trade and economic relations are rapidly becoming thebedrock for a more intensive engagement. We are likely to cross the target of 60billion dollars in bilateral trade by 2010. We are building mutual trust andconfidence between our militaries. Last year, we successfully held the firstjoint military exercises. This will be followed by another exercise this year.Both our countries recognize that we are in an era of dynamic change. MoreIndians and Chinese are traveling abroad than ever before, as technologycompresses time and distance. There is growing engagement among our businesscommunities, students, academics and media. Globalization has made available tous the technology, connectivity and information that promise new opportunitiesfor progress.
While these positive signs of change hold great promise for the future, both ourcountries are also mature enough to realize and address the difficult issues inour relationship. Our boundary is peaceful and we are determined to keep it so.We have evolved mechanisms and have gained experience to maintain peace andtranquility in our border areas. In 2005, we agreed on a set of PoliticalParameters and Guiding Principles to guide us in our task of finding a mutuallysatisfactory solution. We will need to resolve these differences throughnegotiations in a constructive and forward looking manner. We will have to bepatient and realistic. While we may have our differences, we will not let thembecome obstacles to the broadening and deepening of our relationship.
India and China are the beneficiaries of globalization andwe have a stake in how it shapes our world. The Internet is beginning to empowerIndians and Chinese, even in small towns and villages, in ways that gives themcompetitive advantages that might have otherwise taken generations. There is thehope and the possibility of a better life for our future generations. In aninterdependent world, the prosperity and growth of both India and China islinked intimately with that of the world. It follows, therefore, that both of ushave stakes in the development of a global order that is conducive to ourdevelopmental aspirations. We need to work together to evolve such an order. Itis also in our common interest to work together so that the proper conditionsare created for global inter-dependence to be preserved and sustained.
I noted earlier that only an environment of peace and stability is conducive forus to work towards the prosperity of our peoples. Today, both our countriesrequire a peaceful external environment. Therefore, we should work togethertowards peace, security and stability in Asia and beyond. For this, we will needto evolve a security architecture which takes into account the conditionsprevailing in Asia. We cannot transplant ideas from other parts of the world.Nor should we seek to create such sub-regional security arrangements that arenarrow and ultimately ineffective. An open and inclusive architecture, which isflexible enough to accommodate the great diversity which exists in Asia, isneeded. We already have some dialogue forums in place, such as the ARF, the CICAand the SCO, where we are discussing security issues. As two major countries inAsia, India and China should try to work together to evolve a new framework fromthese basic building blocks. I have no doubt that they will help us address ourcommon concerns, such as the security of the sea lanes of communication, whichare critical to trade and energy flows in our region and on which the future ofour two countries will depend.
We also need to work together and with other countries towards mutuallybeneficial economic globalization that will draw on the dynamism and potentialof India and China. When President Hu Jintao visited India in 2006, PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh had said that there is enough space for the twocountries to develop together in a mutually supportive manner for mutualbenefit. As two large Asian states and as two of the fastest growing emergingeconomies of the world, cooperation between India and China transcends thebilateral sphere. Indeed, it has global significance. In this context, we mustensure that regional integration processes are inclusive so that they cancontribute towards building an Asian Economic Community that is open,transparent and inclusive, and that provides a platform to create ever wideningeconomic opportunity. I firmly believe that such a path will be in our mutualinterest.
During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to China in January this year,India and China outlined a Shared Vision for the 21st Century and agreed thatthere should be continuous democratization of international relations and theworld order. It is now widely recognized that the centre of gravity ofinternational relations is shifting towards Asia. However, global governancestructures -- be they in the political domain, such as the UN, or the economicdomain, such as the IMF and World Bank -- are still based on a world order thatis a sixty year old relic from the middle of the last century. There is anurgent need to restructure and democratize these global institutions, so thatthey are more attuned to the realities of the day. It is important for India andChina to work together to achieve this objective and give substance to the ideathat both of us have a common responsibility and a common interest in shapingour world in the future. At a global level, India’s engagement is gearedtowards playing a positive role in world affairs. When both of us define ourinteractions with each other and with the rest of the world in global terms, wewill be fulfilling the promise in our relationship and resume our historicalrole of contributing to humanity’s future.
I began my remarks by listing the reasons for my joy atbeing here today. I believe that I did not complete the list. We in India arecommitted to further strengthening our relations with China. I believe thatChina reciprocates this sentiment. China and India, between them, have thewisdom and the capacity to seek fair and equitable global solutions that willinvolve us all. In this task, the youth, both in India and China, who willprovide the future generation of leaders, have an important role to play tofurther an environment of peace, friendship and opportunity. My visit here todayhas afforded me an opportunity of sharing some of my thoughts with those thatwill go on to guide the destiny of this great nation and its relations withother countries. This, then, is the most joyful reason for my being here today.And for this, I thank you once again. I am deeply grateful for your patience.
