A second dialogue ‘Gateway of India’ Dialogue will focus on economic diplomacy with an aim to make India a manufacturing hub. These two dialogues filling up erstwhile voids should see India on the go

The Raisina Dialogue 2016 held at New Delhi from March 1-3, 2016, is a new geopolitical and geo-economics imitative of the Modi Government, aimed to explore prospects and opportunities for Asian integration as well as Asia’s integration with the world. Referred by some as the Indian version of the Shangri-La Dialogue, its focus was on Asia’s physical, economic, digital connectivity and fostering common global spaces with an emphasis on Asia. The Raisina Dialogue, organised by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in conjunction the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), It is predicated on India’s vital role in the Indian Ocean region and how India along with its partners in the region and beyond can build a stable and prosperous world order. The Dialogue saw participation from some 40 countries and some 400 delegates including 120 international ones.

A host of eminent foreign speakers and panelists participated including from Afghanistan, Australia, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Belgium, China, Cambodia, Germany, Israel, IAEA, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Singapore, Senegal, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, UAE, UK, USA, Uganda, Vietnam and the World Bank. It may be recalled that the emphasis for improving connectivity and opening up trade within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was priority of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from day one but the stumbling block was always Pakistan. At the inaugural panel of the Raisina Dialogue, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj emphasised the importance of connectivity in South Asia saying it is key to not only India’s development but the entire region and the Asian continent. Referring to development undertaken by India in neighbouring countries and efforts to improve connectivity, she said SAARC is still trying to live up to its vast potential in the region and that India would work for the development of the region and win over ‘vested interests’ – an obvious reference to Pakistan.

Significantly, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai criticised Pakistan for not cooperating with the Afghan Government despite his best efforts to convince his immediate neighbour for the need for cooperation, accusing Pakistan as the missing link while Afghanistan, Iran and India are cooperating to improve the much needed connectivity.

The Raisina Dialogue emerged as a major global forum with Asian connectivity acquiring focused salience, with new ideas and insights, challenges and opportunities discussed. This forum provided what should have been natural fallout of global acknowledgement of this being the Asian Century. Connectivity is the backbone for ensuring the economic growth and prosperity, security and stability in Asia and beyond. The Dialogue participants agreed that the concept of connectivity should follow a consultative process that must involve all stakeholders and that connectivity must be understood in the broader sense; going beyond just physical connectivity to include coordinating financial, regulatory, legal, institutional and commercial aspects, plus people-to-people and cultural connectivity.

The Dialogue also addressed maintaining the sanctity and freedom of the global commons; from the sea lines of communication to the cyberspace. Emphasis was also laid on the need to take a comprehensive view of security, which go beyond traditional threats to include non-traditional ones, most prominent being the issue of terrorism. Interplay and competition between different connectivity initiatives, energy security, cyber threats, Internet governance, politics and economics of water in Asia, South-South Cooperation, sharing of Asian and African experiences, and development cooperation were discussed in a deliberate manner.

Significantly, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj as part of her valedictory address at the Raisina Dialogue said, “I look forward to discussions on the prospects of SAARC and on creation and management of smart borders that immediately follows my intervention. The potential of both issues in helping connect peoples, goods and ideas are immense as also is their value in dealing with some of the security challenges that impede these processes. I am sure it will bring out important and valuable insights in moving forward in these areas.”

The Raisina Dialogue was envisioned as a multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral meeting involving policy and decision makers. The sour note in Raisina Dialogue 2016 was the retort by Li Zhaoxing formrr Chinese Foreign Minister, response to a question saying, “Your friend Dalai Lama is not head of a country. He is only a political monk trying to divide his own motherland.” Considering Li was speaking in India’s capital, such remark not only being undiplomatic but reeked of arrogance that has become hallmark chutzpah of many Chinese. But this is not the only such initiative that the Modi Government has undertaken. A second dialogue ‘Gateway of India’ Dialogue in collaboration with Mumbai-based think tank Gateway House will focus on economic diplomacy with an aim to make India a manufacturing hub. These two dialogues filling up erstwhile voids should see India on the go.

The views expressed herein are the personal views of the author.