Reinventing India's strategic autonomy

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 Reinventing India's strategic autonomy

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• Strategic autonomy as foreign policy: The pursuit of “strategic autonomy”, a highlight of India’s post-Cold War diplomacy, now forms a vital part of India’s foreign economic policy. 
• Strategic autonomy and atmanirbharta: PM made a call for atmanirbharta earlier this year, ‘strategic autonomy’ is the perfect external complement to that. 
• It’s not a backward march: NDA has assured India’s partners that Atmanirbharta doesn’t signal a return to pre-economic liberalisation times. It is about reaching full national economic potential. It may affect how India engages with other countries economically but does not mean India is shutting its doors to the world. 
• Three key reasons: ‘Strategic autonomy’ stems from the need to avert global economic risks in current times, the importance of shorter global supply chains, and the essential pullback from reliance on China.  
• Post-Cold War strategic autonomy: India’s post-Cold War strategic autonomy was about careful engagement with the US for access to capital and technology its economic reforms demanded and protecting national interest from US intervention at the same time. 
• India and the US: India’s strategic autonomy in the 90s was about changing US policy on Kashmir and nuclear issues. US wanted to resolve the Kashmir dispute and thought that South Asian nuclear weapons programmes were a threat to international peace. It saw Kashmir as a dangerous nuclear flashpoint. This changed during the Bush administration.
• China’s hostility: India did not pay attention to threats from China as it dealt with the American issue but China was at it. China tried blocking the lifting of atomic blockade against India and upon US refusal to do so it objected to India’s Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership. China also brings up the Kashmir issue in UN Security Council every now and then. India’s continued avoidance to take on China culminated in the recent aggression in Ladakh. 
• Threat to India’s economic prospects: India’s trade deficit with China has increased steadily and cheap manufactured Chinese goods have eroded India’s industrial base. India withdrew from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in late-2019 and has actively sought to reduce economic engagement with China after the Ladakh scuffle. 
• Three key differences: a) In the 90s, India’s strategic autonomy was about averting US political threats, today it is about protecting territorial integrity. b) US was India’s economic partner in the 90s, China is a threat to India’s economic prospects. c) In the 90s, India formed a coalition with Russia and China in its pursuit of strategic autonomy from US, today it seeks collaborative partnerships with US, EU, Japan and Australia. 
• Summary: ‘Strategic autonomy’, a complement to India’s call for self-reliance, is a key theme of India’s foreign policy now. Strategic autonomy in the 90s was about a measured approach to partner with the US for successful economic reforms while protecting national interests from US intervention. Today it is about safeguarding territorial integrity and economic prospects from China.

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