Daily Times

I do not understand the reason why people start thumping their desks whenever they see India at a center stage. One could see the same when India hosted G-20 Summit in New Delhi.

India is a big country and home to world’s largest population. It is an important ally of the US, and has close relations with Israel, and other Arab states. Whereas its human rights record is tainted with respect to minorities and lower caste population, it remains a darling of the west for a number of reasons.

The foremost is its ambitious competition with its bigger neighbour, China. The US-led west is willing to provide whatever India needs, to challenge China’s rise. Although India is a founding member of the BRICS, yet it’s disputes and rivalry with China is a reality. The two of the largest nations have had border wars and skirmishes in the distant past as well as in the near past.

There is no denying that G20 is an important forum, because it accounts for “85 percent of the world’s economic output and more than 75 percent of world trade.” The members include: EU plus 19 nations; Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US. However, it is necessary to mention that the top leadership of Russia and China did not travel to India to participate in the much-hyped Summit.

There is no denying that G20 is an important forum, because it accounts for “85 percent of the world’s economic output and more than 75 percent of world trade.

The recently concluded G-20 Summit was held in New Delhi on September 9-10, 2023. Since India understands the significance of narrative building, therefore, the theme selected of this particular Summit was “One Earth, One Family, One Future,” and agenda items included food security, climate and energy, development, health and digitalization, etc.

The common declaration of this year’s G20 reads, “We are determined to steer the world out of its current challenges and build a safer, stronger, more resilient, inclusive and healthier future for our people and the planet.”

However, the most important aspect of the Summit lies in India’s proposed connectivity project, which was presented on the sidelines, and which is well supported by the entire western world. In fact, India is making an all-out effort to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and in the process has proposed a long rail-sea network that has the support of the US, Saudi Arabia and the EU, with an aim to increase trade between South Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

The proposed route appears to be a non-starter for multiple reasons. It aims to connect India with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Israel and the European Union, through on-off-on rail and shipping routes.

However, much earlier, this author had proposed at least two trade routes: MESACA and SAARC Highway. MESACA (Middle East-South Asia-Central Asia) could be extremely beneficial to India and much shorter than its own proposed. SAARC Highway could have been even more useful, reliving the old Grand Trunk road by Sher Shah Suri, like the old Silk Route that China has revitalized. It could have connected India with Central Asia and EU through Afghanistan and Pakistan, and South East Asia through Myanmar to the entire ASEAN Region. Moreover, India could join the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to connect itself with the Middle East and East Africa, through a much shorter route.

However, in order to appease its western strategic partners, and in its efforts to oppose China’s BRI, India has chosen a very difficult route to connect itself with rest of the world under the broad headings of trade, and digital connectivity. In my opinion, it’s a nonstarter, due to its irregular nature (rail-ship-rail-road), due to which it would be cumbersome, cost prohibitive, and time consuming.

On the other hand, while India and its like-minded countries were still celebrating the successful culmination of G20 summit in New Delhi, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directly accuses of India’s involvement in the murder of its citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year. The Canadian leader said that, “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.” The diplomatic row is getting uglier with every passing day, and another Sikh leader, who was on the most wanted list of India’s agencies, has also been killed in Canada on September 21, 2023. The diplomats are being expelled as part of retaliatory actions.

The above incidents may not be directly connected to the G20 outcome or India’s ambitious connectivity project, however, India will soon understand that it must not treat Canada as it does to its South Asian neighbours, because Canada is also an important member of G20 and NATO.

The writer is the author of the book ‘Nuclear Deterrence and Conflict Management Between India and Pakistan’.