Picture credit: Ministry of External Affairs
India’s foreign policy has taken an unprecedented makeover under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The strongest statement of the same was made when the direct maiden flight of Air India to Tel Aviv from New Delhi arrived at Tel Aviv by flying over Saudi Arabia ending a decades-old overfly ban by Saudi Arabia.
For the neighbourhood nations, the message from Narendra Modi-led India is very clear and it says “With India You grow, With China You Sink”.
On 22nd June 2018 Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Pakistan’s rating to negative from stable. A statement released by the credit rating agency stated that the decision to change the outlook to negative was driven by heightened external vulnerability risk as ongoing balance of payment pressures erode foreign exchange buffers.
This is happening to Pakistan after it has agreed to become a vassal of China, instead of being a friendly nation. In April 2015, when Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Pakistan he gave Pakistan $46 billion, which was given the name of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Over the two years, the size of the ‘gift’ has already grown to $55 billion, with more anticipated over the next few years. But still Moody’s think Pakistan is unstable. Reason is simple, since then Pakistan has surrendered its Stock Market, Currency and Language to China. Even Pakistanis are saying that they have become vassal of China.
On the other hand Bangladesh is about to graduate from the least developed countries (LDC) category within the foreseeable future. Bangladesh has crossed the minimum threshold criteria in the three categories i.e. Gross National Income per capita, Human Assets Index and Economic Vulnerability Index, based on which the country’s stage of development is classified. Bangladesh needs to maintain these scores in all three categories for the next six years to be able to graduate from the LDC club. Bangladesh will be able to achieve the same, if it can keep itself away from the Islamic terrorism.
India stood with Bangladesh for its liberation and has continued to do so since then. India has extended $8 billion Line of Credit to Bangladesh, the biggest it provides to any country. Beside the huge line of credit, India has also aided financially to Bangladesh in developing infrastructure in power and railway sectors to name a few. Under South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) India gave concessions to Bangladesh. India is also building a railway line to connect the Eastern nation to North Eastern states, with almost all the money given by India. (This is a partial list only). All of these have also contributed in Bangladesh becoming a fastest growing economy with a rate of 7.25 % in GDP. Off course no one can take the credit away from the current government and citizens of Bangladesh.
What is important to note is the fact that all the help to Bangladesh has been given by India, keeping its sovereignty intact, unlike in the case of China and Pakistan.
Today’s India is a different India. The nations which stand with it, stands to gain. Nations which are against it, stand to lose.
Maldives has been acting funny with India from few years, with backing from Islamic forces, Pakistan and off course China. On 8 June 2018 Maldives got a taste of new India.
There was contest between Maldives and Indonesia for the UN Security Council non-permanent seat. India didn’t just vote for Indonesia but also worked to ensure that its hostile Indian Ocean neighbour, Maldives not only fared poorly but also fell well short of even its own expectations in the election. Indonesia won by an overwhelming margin. China and Pakistan put together could not ensure a victory to Maldives.
Except Pakistan, any country which has dealt with China, knows its cunning ways and has suffered. In Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and in many parts of Africa, Chinese investments have gone bad. Both Sri Lanka and Tajikistan, were forced to hand over large chunks of lands to China, because they could not pay the debt. Tajikistan had to cede almost one per cent of their land to China since they were unable to pay loans. The loan when acquired by Tajikistan was called a ‘game changer’. It did change the game, for worse. Similar fate awaits Pakistan.
It will take some time for the nations around the world to understand the difference between India and China. Till they understand India will have pricking problems. One such current pricking problem is Seychelles. Seychelles President Danny Faure ahead of his India visit has conveyed that a joint project with New Delhi to develop a naval base at Assumption Island in his country would not move forward. This move of Seychelles has been backed by China. Hope Seychelles, its citizens and politicians both are watching the developments in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Maldives.
Not only Seychelles, I am sure nations around the globe are watching. And not only around the globe, but also the sceptics and fans of One Belt One Road etc. in India are also making a note of these developments. The message is clear, with India you grow, with China you sink.
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