Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia

5. India and Southeast Asia in the Context of India's Rise

71 5 INDIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA IN THE CONTEXT OF INDIA’S RISE Kripa Sridharan INTRODUCTION: CONTEXTUALISING INDIA’S RISE For฀a฀brief฀period฀in฀the฀late฀1940s฀and฀early฀1950s,฀India฀showed฀a฀robust฀ interest฀in฀drawing฀close฀to฀its฀Southeast฀Asian฀neighbours.฀But฀this฀trend฀ did฀not฀last฀very฀long.฀Despite฀their฀geographical฀proximity,฀India฀and฀the฀ regional฀states฀drifted฀apart฀in฀subsequent฀years.฀India฀declined฀to฀renew฀ and฀leverage฀its฀historical฀links฀with฀the฀region฀and฀after฀the฀early฀1950s,฀its฀ external฀policy฀remained฀firmly฀oriented฀towards฀the฀West฀and฀the฀Soviet฀ Union.฀As฀Professor฀Wang฀Gungwu฀in฀his฀introductory฀remarks฀in฀this฀ book฀points฀out,฀an฀Indian฀policy฀towards฀this฀region฀was฀conspicuous฀by฀ its฀absence฀notwithstanding฀India’s฀long฀historical฀links฀with฀Southeast฀Asia฀ and฀the฀presence฀of฀Indian฀diaspora.฀ India’s฀interactions฀with฀Southeast฀Asia฀gradually฀grew฀feeble฀because฀ of฀its฀domestic฀preoccupations.฀The฀principal฀focus฀of฀its฀attention฀turned฀ to฀national฀development฀and฀economic฀self-sufficiency.฀More฀effort฀was฀ expended฀in฀getting฀its฀house฀in฀order฀leaving฀it฀with฀little฀energy฀to฀pursue฀ a฀proactive฀external฀policy.฀The฀Sino-Indian฀border฀war฀of฀1962฀accentuated฀ this฀further฀and฀made฀New฀Delhi฀more฀inward฀looking.฀India฀was฀content฀ with฀its฀leadership฀role฀in฀the฀non-aligned฀movement฀and฀did฀not฀show฀much฀ inclination฀for฀a฀wider฀Asian฀presence.฀All฀this฀changed฀dramatically฀when฀ 05฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀71 8/19/08฀฀฀7:41:27฀PM 72 Kripa Sridharan India฀embarked฀on฀its฀economic฀reforms฀which฀coincided฀with฀the฀end฀of฀ the฀Cold฀War.฀In฀the฀last฀sixteen฀years฀since฀reforms฀began,฀India฀has฀made฀ impressive฀strides฀and฀is฀now฀perceived฀as฀a฀potential฀economic฀powerhouse.฀ Nothing฀exemplifies฀this฀better฀than฀the฀“rising฀India”฀label฀pinned฀on฀it฀by฀ the฀international฀community. Is฀India฀really฀on฀the฀rise?฀This฀is฀an฀intriguing฀question฀since฀the฀country฀ still฀ranks฀abysmally฀low฀(127฀out฀of฀177)฀in฀the฀Human฀Development฀Index.฀ Interestingly,฀Indian฀leaders฀themselves฀are฀cautious฀in฀their฀assessment฀of฀ their฀country.฀This฀is฀for฀two฀reasons฀—฀one฀real฀and฀the฀other฀political.฀ They฀are฀well฀aware฀that฀even฀though฀India฀has฀been฀notching฀up฀impressive฀ economic฀ growth฀ figures,฀ it฀ still฀ faces฀ daunting฀ human฀ and฀ physical฀ infrastructural฀ challenges.฀ More฀ than฀ 300฀ million฀ of฀ its฀ people฀ are฀ mired฀ in฀ poverty,฀ it฀ has฀ the฀ world’s฀ second฀ largest฀ HIV฀ population,฀ and฀ 54฀ per฀ cent฀ of฀ its฀ female฀ population฀ is฀ illiterate.฀ It฀ is฀ energy฀ deficient,฀ has฀ poor฀ roads,฀ports฀and฀airports,฀and฀has฀vast฀urban฀slums.฀These฀realities฀are฀cause฀ for฀concern฀and฀caution.฀Therefore฀it฀is฀not฀surprising฀that฀Sonia฀Gandhi1 ฀ and฀ Manmohan฀ Singh฀ never฀ fail฀ to฀ remind฀ their฀ audience฀ that฀ “India฀ rising”฀is฀only฀a฀tiny฀part฀of฀the฀Indian฀story฀since฀the฀fruits฀of฀economic฀ growth฀have฀barely฀touched฀the฀vast฀majority฀of฀the฀country’s฀people.฀The฀ other฀ reason฀ for฀ their฀ pessimism฀ is฀ the฀ experience฀ of฀ the฀ previous฀ Indian฀ government฀which฀rashly฀talked฀about฀“India฀shining”฀only฀to฀go฀down฀in฀ defeat฀in฀the฀2004฀election.฀It฀is฀said฀that฀for฀much฀of฀India’s฀population฀ the฀“shine”฀was฀nowhere฀in฀sight฀which฀naturally฀led฀some฀to฀dismiss฀the฀ claim฀as฀presumptuous.฀It฀was฀this฀bit฀of฀painful฀reality฀that฀made฀Sonia฀ Gandhi’s฀ party฀ campaign฀ against฀ the฀ incumbent฀ government’s฀ slogan฀ and฀ win฀ the฀ election.฀ Naturally,฀ the฀ new฀ government฀ promised฀ to฀ work฀ for฀ the฀ common฀ man฀ so฀ that฀ India฀ truly฀ begins฀ shining฀ for฀ all.฀ Even฀ now,฀ not฀ much฀ has฀ been฀ accomplished฀ on฀ this฀ score฀ despite฀ a฀ slew฀ of฀ policies฀ put฀in฀place฀by฀the฀present฀government.฀Given฀this,฀it฀would฀be฀politically฀ suicidal฀to฀trumpet฀India’s฀rise฀when฀ground฀realities฀are฀still฀grim.฀Therefore,฀ the฀“rising฀India”฀slogan฀is฀downplayed฀by฀the฀current฀political฀leadership฀ although฀ Indians฀ themselves฀ are฀ upbeat฀ about฀ their฀ country’s฀ prospects.2 ฀ The฀outsiders,฀of฀course,฀are฀even฀more฀optimistic.3 ฀ These฀contending฀views,฀in฀one฀sense,฀contextualize฀the฀phenomenon฀ called฀ “rising฀ India”.฀ Without฀ claiming฀ too฀ much,฀ it฀ can฀ be฀ said฀ that฀ something฀is฀certainly฀stirring฀within฀India฀which฀is฀substantially฀different฀ from฀ what฀ the฀ country฀ has฀ experienced฀ so฀ far.฀ Howsoever฀ it฀ is฀ interpreted ,฀there฀is฀no฀denying฀the฀fact฀that฀India฀is฀the฀topic฀of฀conversation฀ everywhere.฀To฀ that฀ extent,฀ the฀ “rising฀ India”฀ label฀ is฀ not฀ merely฀ a฀ hype฀ shorn฀ of฀ substance.฀ Apart฀ from฀ the฀ economic฀ growth฀ figures,฀ the฀ rise฀ is฀ 05฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀72 8/19/08฀฀฀7:41:28฀PM [3.23.101.60] Project MUSE (2024-04-25 01:56 GMT...