PM SINGH ALIGNS INDIA'S FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002220

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KDEM IN US
SUBJECT: PM SINGH ALIGNS INDIA'S FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES
WITH THE WEST

REF: NEW DELHI 1426


1. (SBU) Summary: Signalling a break from India's
traditional view of the world, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
declared in a February 25 speech that democracy and open
economies are now the core of India's foreign policy values,
replacing non-alignment, solidarity with developing
countries, and the country's distinct non-Western
self-definition. Although largely ignored by the Indian
media, the PM's address is a topic of discussion among New
Delhi's strategic elite, several of whom have described to us
the PM's personal vision of India's role in an international
concert of democracies. Despite this welcome change in
direction, the bureaucracy and political class are likely to
adapt slowly. End Summary.


2. (U) Although virtually ignored by the press, the PM's
speech at the "India Today" conclave in New Delhi outlined a
new Indian foreign policy that continues to resonate. The
speech, seen as the PM's comprehensive vision for India in a
post-Cold War world, situates Indian interests more strongly
than ever with the West, and complements Foreign Secretary
Saran's February 14 address declaring that India would
support democratic forces in its neighborhood (Reftel).

Democracy as the Norm
--------------


3. (U) Linking Indian foreign policy to open economic
policies, the PM implicitly repudiated India's traditional
third world solidarity with authoritarian governments,
proclaiming that "liberal democracy is the natural order of
political organization in today's world." "All alternate
systems," he continued, "authoritarian and majoritarian in
varying degrees, are an aberration."


4. (U) The PM emphasized that India's policies toward the
world should be guided by the core values of liberal
democracy and secularism, while upholding India's support for
developing countries. In fact, he called on India and other
"developed democracies" to support the emerging democracies
of "societies in transition," hailing India's assistance to
Afghanistan as an example.


5. (U) Singh declared that an open society and open economy,
not "authoritarian responses," are the best way for a
government to deliver improvements to its citizens.
Observing that "democratic methods yield the most enduring
solutions to the most intractable problems," Singh challenged
India to "show that democracy can deliver development and
empower the marginalized."

Open Economies and Good Relations
--------------


6. (U) Reinterpreting the Nehruvian doctrine that
"ultimately, foreign policy is the outcome of economic
policy," Singh dwelt at length on the manner in which
increasingly open economic ties between India and other
nations have altered bilateral relationships. He underlined
that "shared values and growing economic links have enabled a
closer strategic engagement" with the US.


7. (U) Singh also noted that India's growing strategic
interactions with Europe, Russia, and the rest of Asia were
preceded and shaped by economic ties, and that trade,
investment, and energy transactions are defining India's
relations around the globe. Emphasizing the importance of
growing economic links, he called for a sense of
"partnership" in South Asia to replace the narrow political
calculations that had governed previous bilateral
interactions with neighbors.


8. (U) The PM reminded his listeners that India still sees
itself as a champion of the developing world -- although
committed to open economic policies to assist development.
While urging India to take advantage of global markets and
sources of capital, he promised to seek "the reform and
democratization of multilateral institutions," and called for
a strengthening of "South-South cooperation."


9. (U) Singh concluded that an Indian foreign policy guided
by commitment to open societies and open economies was not
only true to India's principles, but would accelerate India's
efforts to "recover its due status in the world." The
development of economic ties and "mutual interdependence"
would secure "peace, freedom and development in our
neighborhood."
Positive Reception by Pundits
--------------


10. (U) Leading Indian strategic thinkers have applauded the
PM's exposition. In a March 5 article, commentator K
Subrahmanyan praised the speech as "the first attempt" to
spell out "India's role in the new international system"
following the Cold War. Noting that the PM had "declared
India as part of the first world of nations which are
democracies and market economies," he argued that, by
identifying the opportunities inherent in globalization,
Singh was advancing Nehru's vision of a world of "free
cooperation of free people."


11. (U) In two recent columns, Jawaharlal Nehru University
(JNU) professor and noted foreign policy expert C Raja Mohan
highlighted Singh's rejection of India's decades-old
adversarial relationship with the Western world, and
declaration of confidence that it can hold its own in a
global market. Observing that the PM's call for regional
economic integration was a radical departure from India's
traditionally suspicious interactions with its neighbors, he
posited that the time was ripe to overcome bureaucratic
conservatism and make dramatic progress in relations with
Pakistan, China, the US and Japan.


12. (SBU) The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has gone out of
its way to highlight the India Today address to foreign
missions in New Delhi, and the speech was a major focus of
PMO media adviser Sanjay Baru at the recent Aspen Strategy
Group meeting. One columnist told us that the PM had
referred to the speech as a personal manifesto, reflecting
the desire to firmly situate India as part of the
international community of democracies.

Comment
--------------


13. (SBU) Although the PM has now located India squarely in
the camp of democratic, free-market societies, the GOI must
make deep changes in its foreign, domestic and economic
policies to translate his ideas into practice. India's
entrenched habits retain a strong hold over its foreign
policy, including periodic calls for a revitalization of the
Non-Aligned Movement, repeated at the March 19-20 meeting of
the G-20. At the very least, the PM's speech serves as a
useful reference point to encourage GOI interlocutors to
support democratic and liberal values, including at the
present session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, and in
India's policy toward Burma.
MULFORD