Will Modi announce India’s Neo-South Asian policy?

http://indianewsdiary.com/?p=17922 The NDA government plans to rewrite India’s Neo-South Asian Policy, and the intent behind seems for a complete transformation of South Asia into a peace and prosperous region. While challenges are many, opportunities are abundant.  The new government will seek to explore it from the very platform of its swearing-in-venue and likely do some complementary pronouncements.

The BJP-led NDA government on the first day of its formal takeover is going to pronounce its new South Asian outlooks from the swearing-in-ceremony podium. The world is now much enthusiastically and resiliently observing this. How the new government will come out with its regional outlook is now the most important speculation for them. The big players including the USA, China must be very keenly detecting this development side by side.  While the invitation of the South Asian leaders is the highly discussed around, their unprecedented desire for engagement with India have made the adversaries rather chocking.

The new-claimant of New Delhi has said to have done the sufficient groundwork of the said celebration. While, the head of the governments in the neighbours have been reverently summoned, no stratagem has been left to easy the buoyant leaders to witness this majestic celebration the largest democracy going to showcase. 

The Modi-led NDA government is all set to reaching its South Asian Neighbours from the venue of swearing ceremony itself, the moment its formal taking of office is over. In response to the overwhelming response of the leaders from neighbourhood, the new PM is said to be having his plan to air a few parting delights these leaders can carry when they back to their countries.  While the new ruling party is lobbying for a good reciprocation to the visiting head of governments South Asian countries, the new PM of India seeks to avoid a mismanagement to this exceptional germinal.  Overall, the new government is in no mood to surpass this chance, and waiting upbeat the moment for a face-to-face communication recovery with the leaders from neighbours.

The new Indian government will well orchestrate the point that there is nothing unusual behind the unprecedented interests shown by the regional leadership, and there has been no secret diplomatic-workout behind inviting the regional leaders to the platform of its sworn in ceremony.  These developments were obvious to happen when the regional leadership could visualise their own progress in the new Indian leadership of a massive mandate in pocket. 

Though the new government is still judged with care and caution in the neighbourhood, leadership at New Delhi must be preparing to instil trust and confidence in them. For that reason, the new leadership have planned to showcase its unprecedented commitments with promises for a handful contribution towards the regional progress.

The new government is all set to assert India’s undeniable stake in South Asian regional peace and progress.  As the leaders from neighbours are about to approach India’s support to their growth, the new government is all set to orchestrate certain people-centric priorities, and will persuade these leaders to take this unprecedented political development into the advantage of their rise. The new leadership is all set to commit its support to the neighbours to the best level of their needs so that nothing should impede their development.

Similarly, it is all set to communicate of the decisive leadership the new government is to demonstrate. On the side line of the pronouncement of its South Asian priorities, the new government may indicate its hard and tough approach unlike the previous regime. Accordingly, it may pronounce its resolve to be vigilant observer of various developments around its neighbourhood. It needs to be made clear that any policy of Indian containment needs will be dealt with iron-hand, while the desire of engagement will be equally reciprocated.

India will make it clear that the old policy of Indian containment no more match to the new situation. Therefore, any effort of containment of India’s take-on will hardly matter. So the best natural option left before the leaders of the neighbours is only to care for a strong-knot relationship with India, so that at any given situation, India’s rapid socio-economic transformation may come to their recuperation. The leaders from the neighbours must be convinced that their countries preoccupied with weak-state- capacity, insecurity and vulnerability should no more derecognise India’s centrality to South Asian regional peace, stability and security at their own peril. 

The respective leaders must be astutely persuaded that the role and intention of China in the region has been almost divisive. Chinese plan of ‘Indian encirclement’ is in fact a strategy of South Asian encirclement and containment. Therefore, their strategic alliance with China is actually appears to be suicidal, as its distant outcome will not only weaken India, but also belittle their sovereignty.  Therefore, it becomes equally important for all the South Asian countries to ensure the stopover of Chinese intrusion, so that its policy of South Asian containment is effectually contained.  The leadership must be convinced that no way the China’s hegemonic, unilateralism and expansionist strategy going to complement their interests, whereas the plural and tolerant democracy India will not impede their progress and prosperity.

Now the time has come for India to show a convincing commitment that it is serious to rework on the fissured regional integration, and for so, the need for a cohesive delimitation approach to conflicts at various fronts becomes necessary.  Thus, before the good restart for a peaceful, progressive and prosperous South Asia, the foremost responsibility before the regional leaders is to ensure the minimisation of the enduring conflicts, which yield much insecurity in the region. For the larger regional interests, the leaders from the neighbours must be persuaded to shed the ‘age old identity and ethnic centric politics’ and understand the need of regional peace sooner than never.

South Asian region has been a long sufferer of terrorism, and placed on the top list of “victim of global terrorism” index. The world has become nearly unfastened that how this serious menace can be eradicated from this region. While the leadership seems to be realising, they must be well persuaded that terrorism in South Asia is hard to eradicate unless the regional leadership resolve to fight it unitedly.  At the same spell India may clear its resolve to fight terrorism along with its behind-motivation at length and breadth, it will hardly spare any perpetrator of terrorism irrespective of its state or non-state affiliation.

 “Will India pronounce the importance of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and underline it necessity for regional peace and progress’, is still not clear. But it is apparently clear that the pro-development-oriented fresh-political-leadership in India perceive the requirement of a regional political mechanics to foster multilateral cooperation and interaction in region without which its own development may also back track. India understands that unless the countries of South Asia do not prosper, the dream for peace and prosperity in the region will not suffice.  And this realisation makes the present leadership feel responsible to bring all the countries back on track. 

To conclude, it is now the duty of India to win over the heart and mind of its South Asian neighbours and the leaders at the outset. India must convince the South Asian leadership that while their progress and peace shall be its priority, however, it will not access their progress from the prism of its own strategic parameters, rather it will ever seek to incessantly involve itself till the regional progress is seen and heard everywhere it the world.  India must dutifully convince the neighbours that being the biggest country in South Asia the stake of its responsibility is naturally bigger, and its role in fostering peace and progress in the region should not be seen with suspicion and contained by aligning with the adverse player, rather need to be rejoiced.

(This article is all about a scholarly explanation of the perspective expectations. This should not be equated with exact official pronouncement).

Internal security management: Challenges before the New Government

http://indianewsdiary.com/?p=17860

My article published in India News Diary

According to various news sources in air, the officials across various central ministries are said to be extremely busy of preparing the road map as per the spirit and desire of the BJP manifesto. So far the issues of internal security management is concerned, Union Home Ministry officials are also preparing the roadmap picking up key points from the BJP manifesto to steer its officials in a direction.  The bureaucracy has very rightly understood the pulse of the new ruling party BJP, when it got a massive mandate on its promises where highest priority has been given to national security. The bureaucracy very clearly understands that unlike the congress-led UPA, the Modi-led NDA is hardly going to spare any bureaucrat for its tiny mistake if the government face slightly aberration in the media and in public. Keeping this in mind, the bureaucracy is perhaps very carefully preparing the agenda the new government is likely to pronounce after its official take over.

Among the promised areas of national security, the management of internal security finds a thoughtful reflection.  The most prospective agenda of the government is going to include the revival of the National Security Council (established by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government in 1998), while the issue like abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, and POTA like strong anti-terrorism law, and the establishment of National Counter Terrorism Centre NCTC) are said to be kept in the pipeline and to gradually follow.  Similarly, having the sensitive issue of intrusion along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), cross border activities along Line of Control (LoC) and illegal migration along the unfenced borders in mind, the new government is to focus on the substantial infrastructure development along the LAC (in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim), and to complete the fencing work along Bangladesh and Myanmar borders as soon as possible.  But, such initiatives cannot be translated into actions unless the government take seriousness towards restoring the policy paralysis and to instil the confidence in the executive who is essential for a speedy carry forward.

So far the management of internal security for the time being, the new governments needs to bring out NSC from its dysfunctionality as the first priority.  There are indications that the NSC is going to oversee the internal security affairs in focus.  While the internal security challenges at critical fronts like J&K, the red- corridor and the Northeast, while the priority of issues like militancy, insurgency, organised crime, terrorism and Left Wing Extremism will be high on its agenda.  However, for the successful management of these challenges, the new government need to seriously care for strengthening the institutional capacity of the intelligence, investigation and prosecute agencies, and to ensure their insulation from political interventions.

The need of the hour is to show proactiveness towards internal security so as to instil confidence in the public first. However, proactiveness need not be confused with short term measures and must not end with confrontational state of affairs.  Hence, the challenge before the new government is to devise strategies for the sustainable and long term solutions to all the existing internal security challenges, while keeping the security apparatus prepared for immediate threats at any given situation.

Behind the implementation of all agenda and programme, the highest objective of the new government is to bring efficiency and effectiveness in India’s internal security management system. In this regard, the prominence has to be implementing the overdue recommendations so that the belated reform at various fronts of internal security management gets accomplished first.  For instance, the long pending police reform suggested by the second administration reforms commission report as well as the reformation of the ‘intelligence apparatus’, ‘border management apparatus’ suggested by the Kargil Committee Report are the overdue cases to be implemented in their totality.

As the previous Vajpayee-led NDA regime has been time and again credited for its unprecedented attempt for initiating reforms in country’s security management system, it is obvious that the revived NDA and more potent BJP at the Centre now will undeniably pursue the policy of its own previous rule.  However, in doing so, it is to expect that the government has to have the temporal and spatial sensitivity and must not forget the truth that there was a government how much adverse it might had been, has ruled the country for ten years. And for a successive government, while the maintenance of status-quo is generally advantageous, altering the status-quo brings several challenges to handle.

Though, the UPA government was not practically and considerably serious towards national security issues, the personal efforts taken in the “post-26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks phase” by one of its Minister of Home Affairs Mr. P. Chidambaram are noteworthy.  Though, he could not become successful in completing the implementation of his dream-reform plans, what he has started need not be distracted but rather to be strengthened.  So, strengthening the National Investigating Agency (NIA), expanding the National Security Guard (NSG) in terms of its capacity and presence, taking the initiative and leadership for opening of special anti-terrorism squads in all the States and Union Territories; strengthening the capability of Central Intelligence Agencies are some of the major task the new government need to seriously carry forward. Similarly, to balance the lack of Centre-State and State-State coordination, the important task before the new government is to make functional the proposed Inter-State Council and institutionalise the Chief Minister’s conference and make the states the part of internal security decisions also.

Behind the success of internal security management the role of the policy makers and the bureaucracy is prominent. Similarly, the role and involvement of political authority is also crucial. However, it is the political authority at the Centre which can make difference if it desires so. So far the changing trend in the management of internal security seems up to the moment, the revival of NDA policy is quite natural.  Secondly, the NSA for the time being is going to be “the executive head” of the internal security affairs and will directly report to the Prime Minister till a special Ministry of Internal Security is shaped.  While the NDA will certainly seek for speedy efforts and investments for strengthening the “out-dated and the colonially inherited internal security mechanism” in the country, it will certainly want that the bureaucratic swiftness also match to its aspiration. It is because, the new government has to reflect something in action on the line of its promises before it passes its hundred-days post.

However, it is a proven fact that the self-claimed sagacious bureaucracy will come on its way. And it will ever hunt for to side-track the efforts of the previous government so as to be wiser before the present government.  The government therefore, need to be utmost careful of implementing any hasty suggestion by the bureaucracy to alter the old government’s good efforts and therefore need to review any policy suggestion with caution.  Though it is essential that the UPA government’s inaction over various security matters and its intolerance to strong anti-terror law are apparent to be reviewed, I would suggest that the efforts taken by P. Chidambaram’s must also be carefully studied.   I understand that the bureaucracy is the master of designing the empty vessels of policies and programme so that it can sound much to the satisfaction of its political boss, but hardly to quench the thirst of none of the governed. Thus, it is the liability and responsibility of the more sagacious political authority at the helm to be cautious and extra-careful of bureaucratic intention of political unaccountability. Otherwise the bureaucracy will keep the new government fooled for the years till the election is again around.  At the end of drama the election promises will become the liability unless those are translated into practices and implementation on the ground.