Indian Diplomacy Missed the BRICS Plot in Goa
THIS year has been controversial for India’s ‘multilateral diplomacy’. The SAARC summit, which was originally scheduled for November in Islamabad, got scuttled, thanks to India’s boycott.

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have since clarified that they too sought postponement of the summit in Islamabad, but for reasons other than ‘terrorism’. So has Afghanistan. Nepal regrets the postponement of the summit and wants an early re-scheduling. Maldives keeps silent. India draws satisfaction Pakistan’s credential to put on the mantle of regional leadership even by rotation has been disputed.

Within the month, India almost derailed yet another multilateral process, which is far more profound to world politics than SAARC – the two-day BRICS summit that concluded in Goa last Sunday. Again, ironically, the elephant in the room took over – Pakistan. India got agitated against two out of its four BRICS partners on account of their perceived and real relationships with Pakistan.

To one interlocutor, Russia, India held out the carrot, while, in regard of the other – China – things deteriorated into an unpleasant public spat. Sensing how much crucial the income from arms exports is to the Russian economy, which is in distress due to western sanctions, India fast-tracked at breakneck speed certain multi-billion dollar arms deals. These arms deals, ironically, turned out to be the big media headlines out of Goa.

India expects Russia to be eternally grateful. While that may be too much to expect and will be ignoring Russian diplomatic ingenuity to walk the fine line, Moscow may accommodate New Delhi by slowing down the optics of its nascent strategic ties with Islamabad so as to not ruffle Indian feathers.

On the other hand, New Delhi has displayed certain ‘toughness’ in the China policies under Prime Minister Modi’s stewardship, which initially kept Beijing guessing but seems to be producing a backlash from Beijing lately. The signs began appearing in the run-up to the BRICS summit. The ‘hard line’ in India’s China policies began some two years ago,but lately through the past year, they have become apparent. The Modi government is willing to mothball India’s ties with China unless the latter re-calibrated its regional policies in deference to Indian sensitivities as the pre-eminent regional power in South Asia.

At its most obvious level, the issue concerns China’s close ties with Pakistan, which is lately assuming the nature of a regional alliance, thanks to the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The CPEC is regarded as the flagship of Beijing’s so-called One Belt One Road Initiative, which India views with suspicion as designed to promote Chinese strategies as a global power.

To be sure, China will not and cannot oblige, and even ahead of the bilateral summit meeting in Goa on Saturday, it took care to notify Delhi that its stance would not shift. Any chill in India-China relations can make the BRICS tent rather uncomfortable. As a Russian expert noted last week, “It’s no secret that Russia, India and China are the three pillars of BRICS.”

At any rate, the government’s preoccupations over India’s relations with Russia, China and Pakistan – plus the issue of terrorism – effectively became the leitmotif of the BRICS event in Goa. Multilateral processes such as BRICS are highly selective in choosing their participants and if the participants do not enjoy good vibes amongst themselves, the negative vibes obstruct constructive and productive interaction.

Therefore, mature and responsible countries try to insulate the multilateral events from being over-burdened with extraneous issues. The host countries go to extraordinary extent to take care that the multilateral event fulfils its agenda, free of distractions. However, India has chosen the ‘Bharatiya Janata Party path’ – scandalise the interlocutors until theylost their presence of mind, hung their head in shame and capitulated or were silenced. India’s approach is illogical. When neither Russia nor China is putting pre-conditions regarding their BRICS partner’s ‘defining partnership of the 21st century’ with the United States, how could India arrogate to itself the prerogative to dictate their terms of engagement with Pakistan?

By hosting the BRICS summit, India was presented with a rare opportunity to showcase its leadership role in the world arena as an emerging power and an aspiring permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. But, ironically, Prime Minister Modi preferred trademark rhetoric and grandstanding – possibly, with the domestic audience in view – where he feels in his elements. It is unclear whether he was even cognisant of the supreme importance of not detracting attention from the BRICS event, especially when India got the honour of chairmanship of the forum. The issues of terrorism or India-Pakistan tensions should not have been mixed up at all with the main agenda of the BRICS event.