Editorial
It is of course ‘Indo-Pacific’. India is smack in the middle of hectic international activity thus. And, the ambitious Indian media revels in the attention. Gung-ho coverage enjoys stating how New Delhi reminded visiting British feelers how the European Community imported more Russian oil last month in order to rebuff their demands that India junk Russian oil imports. A visiting American official of Indian descent, we are told, was reminded that India would not be dictated to regarding relations with other countries. Yes, the goings-on in New Delhi will help shape the emerging scheme of things where global alignments are in the making. Ukraine, after all, is becoming an unwanted catalyst of emerging international systems. Two can be discerned so far. One is the intact NATO and European Economic Community. The other is the reaction evidently fostered by the Ukraine crisis. India, which American strategists placed in one crucial corner of the four-nation Quad of the Indo-Pacific strategy, is now being pressed to perform. With Russia being a traditional strategic ally Ukraine does pose a problem. It is equally relevant that India is uncomfortable with a strategy that sees China as a natural enemy when possibilities of a natural neighborhood policy have not been adequately explored and, indeed, hold promise in newly emerging circumstances. Temptations here, be warned, may see India hosting severe communal conflagration which will seek to destabilize and must be faced with regional cooperation.
India notwithstanding, eyes, then, must turn to the South Asian region as a whole. India’s traditional enemy Pakistan, for one, must take space in the Indian media for its instability. Dismissing Imran Khan’s foreign bogey charges for his no-confidence motion, the Indian mindset already sees the Pakistan Army’s blessing hands over the Pakistani prime minister removed. Advisedly, the Indian establishment should be mulling over Khan’s aggressive charges against the United States. In the context of recent Delhi rebuffs against interference, a destabilization attempt in Islamabad would have a bearing, too, on Indian resistance. Not gung-ho journalism but sombre cooperation could help the region scrape through the current challenges. A coordinated regional response to destabilization efforts would be the logical leadership choice when the option would be shortsighted glee over a neighbor’s discomfort. Indeed, as things stand, after Afghanistan, one sees South Asia as a region of turbulence these days. Pakistan must face elections due to domestic discord and Sri Lanka sees discord due to the collapsed economy. Delhi is aware of the nuances of a destabilized Nepal having just hosted its prime minister. This unholy triangle of instability can only impact the core one way or the other and compound the confusion of a changing world. Disabled Nepal, disheveled Pakistan and an economically collapsed Sri Lanka should be little to take comfort from. The right response could herald a strong region of cooperation.
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