Indian foreign policy has recently come under pressure in many ways. After 9/11, India was in a much better position in the long changed world politics. India keeps a balanced, warm, friendly relation with the United States, China, and Europe. It is a strategic ally of the US in the fight against terrorism in South Asia. This situation has given India a somewhat absolute advantage in South Asian and Indian Ocean politics. It also has close ties with China as a member of BRICS, BASIC in climate policy. These have also brought relatively positive results for India, which has chased a kind of balanced foreign policy relation with all sides.
But in recent times, it seems that India is in some trouble. In South Asian policy, there has been wrangling with China for some time. China’s growing influence, especially in neighboring countries, is seen as a threat to India. Apart from Pakistan and Bangladesh, there is a rivalry between India and China for influence and control in Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal, and Bhutan. Recently, China has dealt India a severe blow in this rivalry. At first, it tried to put pressure on India with Nepal and China itself has been aggressive towards India on the border with Ladakh.
The question was, which of the South Asian countries would resist India’s bigotry? Pakistan is not reliable anymore for several reasons. It needed a state against which India could not accuse of terrorism. It would be not easy to interfere in the domestic politics of that country. In this case, China’s choice is Nepal. Nepal has recently established a rail link with China. As a result, Nepal is no longer dependent on India for imports. Also, China offers credit facilities to Nepal and other South Asian countries.
All in all, Nepal has been active against India. Nepal has started a tug-of-war with India for land and Lord Ramachandra. It has officially adopted Lipulekh, Kalapani, and Limpiyadhaura by publishing new maps and symbols. Nepal makes this claim under the Sugauli Treaty of 1818, but India has always rejected this claim. In mid-May, Nepal decided to include the mentioned area in its map. Nepalese schools will use a new map in schoolbooks, government symbols, and all documents of local courts in Nepal.
Nepal has not only put itself on the map. The Nepalese police killed an Indian and took his body away. Finally, Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Oli has claimed that Ayodhya, customarily known as the birthplace of Sri Ramchandra mentioned in the Balmiki Ramayana, is a village near Birganj in Nepal. The area was known as Ayodhya in ancient times. Today it is known as Thori. He accused India of creating a fake Ayodhya by saying that India had stolen Nepal’s cultural heritage.
Nepal has done two things. In addition to putting pressure on the border, the construction of the Ram temple on the Babri Masjid (mosque) compound in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, has loosened the argument of India. Evidence of a temple has not been found in Ayodhya. Only the RSS and the BJP believe that there was once a temple in place of the Babri Masjid. Nepal’s claim for the birthplace of Lord Sri Ramachandra proves the futility of the ownership of the Hindutvaists in India. Nepal wants to put pressure on India both materially and psychologically.
The communal politics is the main tactic of the BJP to gain popularity in Indian politics. Now, if Lord Sri Ramchandra’s birthplace is not in India, the politics of the BJP will not work anymore. In this situation, Nepal wants to put psychological pressure on India to solve various unresolved problems, including the territory. In the recent past, none of its neighbors has been able to exert such pressure on India, which has not reacted directly to the Nepalese attack on the Indians at the border or on the new map. However, it has traditionally tried to stir up trouble in Nepalese domestic politics. However, this has not been successful so far.
India has also not done much about the killing of soldiers by China on the border with Ladakh. In response to joint pressure from China and Nepal, Pakistan has also published new maps covering parts of Jammu, Kashmir, and Gujarat. The southern block of Delhi was just as tactical and slow as the Indian media was enthusiastic about these issues. The South Bloc did an excellent job of calculating whether India is now involved in any conflict with China, Pakistan, and Nepal. At other times, India could have claimed credit for killing some fictitious militants by attacking Pakistan. Or the government of Nepal could have thrown it away. But the wind is not in India’s favor now.
Meanwhile, Rajapaksa has also regained power in Sri Lanka. Indian influence on its neighboring countries is gradually easing. It seems that India now has no friends except the Maldives and Bangladesh. However, Bangladesh, too, cannot support India in all matters. Regardless of consanguinity words, Bangladesh remained silent on the Ladakh question, irrespective of whether it was connected with India in a strong bond, just as the number of South Asian friends of India is dwindling as a result of growing Chinese influence.
In this situation, India has fewer alternatives. One option is to normalize relations with its neighbors. But this is not possible for India all at once. The people in the region do not seem to trust India.
India is closer to the governments of the neighboring countries, the further away from the people. Besides, China wants to keep Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, in its grip with various things, including investments, credits for the development of infrastructure and customs relief for goods. In these cases, it is questionable to what extent India can compete with China.
Another alternative for India is to divert public attention to religious fundamentalism rather than political issues. India is going down this path. In this context, the Indian government has recently begun building a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. It is an ancient practice of the rulers to attract people by building religious shrines. India also followed the same old method and moved towards fascism. This fascist behavior in India is not new. The abolition of the special status of Kashmir, the Citizenship Amendment Act, the decapitation of men for eating beef is a manifestation of the fascist behavior of India.
Apart from this, the shooting and killing of Bangladeshis at the border is the order of the day. Gradually a kind of murderous character of India is revealed to Bangladeshi people. Thus, India’s fascist activities do not only affect its citizens. Its neighbors are also facing the same problem. For this reason, India is becoming isolated in South Asian politics.
There are some similarities with Nazi Germany. India is increasingly known as a religious fundamentalist country. The Indian government has introduced a new law to exile minorities by naming non-Indians. Also, in Nazi Germany, Jews were executed and exiled for their non-Aryan ethnicity. Germany was also aggressive towards its neighbors. India is not far behind. Fascist Germany became entangled in the Second World War and eventually split into Allied forces. Only time will tell where religious fascism will lead India.
*The writer is a political analyst based in Germany.
October 11, 2020
The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and editorial policies of Aequitas Review.
