India’s former National Security Advisor and former Foreign Secretary, Shivshankar Menon, has said India must rethink its attitude to cross-border terrorism which is “not an over-arching threat” and also urgently review its SAARC policy or run the risk of China being admitted as a member in India’s absence.Menon is one of the authors of a recent paper by the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), which advocates a rethinking India’s foreign policy and strategic priorities.In a 41-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, where he discusses the CPR paper called ‘India’s Path to Power: Strategy in a World Adrift’, Menon also spoke at length about how he believes India must reorient its China policy and build several friendly coalitions to tackle and respond to the many challenges India faces from China.Menon also spoke about India’s relationship with the United States, which he calls “a critical partner”, the need to expand the Quad to include Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam and how India must respond over the next decade to the US-China rivalry. A third big subject Menon discussed was the need to better manage relations with India’s immediate neighbours. He called for India to separate “domestic, political and ideological considerations” from its policy with neighbouring countries and seek to become “a source of economic and political stability in the sub-continent”.Menon began the interview speaking about the CPR study’s assertion that “the foundational source of India’s influence in the world … rests on four pillars: domestic economic growth, social inclusion, political democracy and a broadly liberal constitutional order”. While all of these pillars are today wobbling – or, as Menon preferred to put it, being “renegotiated” – two, in particular, are causes of serious concern. First, economic growth has been shrinking since 2017-18 and very few economists expect it to get back to 7-8% levels in the predictable future. This means the influence and attraction of the Indian market has diminished and will remain diminished for a while.The second pillar of concern is what’s happened to India’s democracy, social inclusion and liberal constitutional order. Although many people would say this is not going to reverse and correct itself under the present government and, perhaps, could get worse if the government is re-elected in 2024, Menon believes that the government is at least aware of the problem, which is why the Prime Minister repeatedly talked about India’s commitment to democracy at the UN and the Quad.However, Menon agrees that the rethinking of India’s foreign policy and strategic priorities, which the CPR paper strongly advocates, will have to happen at a time when India is a diminished country, both economically and democratically. That will make the challenge of rethinking greater.Speaking about India’s relationship with China, Menon, a former Ambassador to China, said “the China challenge is likely to be the most significant in the coming decade”. He said India needs to forge coalitions with friendly countries to tackle the many different challenges India faces from China. These coalitions could be different depending upon the challenge they are designed to tackle. He spoke about “working with regional Asian powers like Iran, Turkey and Russia” but also about leveraging “close partnerships with the US, Europe and Japan”.Menon said in a world that is adrift – this is how he described the international order – India needs to chart a new direction for its China policy and the document he has helped author seeks to provide that direction. However, he added, India must be open to changing and correcting course and, even, feeling its way forward as the situation evolves or changes. There is no road map. He said there will be choppy waters to traverse but also placid seas to cross.Also read: As Ties Thaw, India and Pakistan Must Avoid Maximalist Positions for Lasting Kashmir SolutionAs he put it, “India’s China policy must now be reset to the reality of a live border and of antagonistic political relations”.Speaking about India’s relations with the US, Menon said the Quad and America’s Indo-Pacific strategy ties in with India’s maritime concerns and interests. However, he accepted that whilst America considers the greatest Chinese threat to be located in the Indo-Pacific, for India the greater Chinese threat lies to the north and west of the country. Here, he added, India is essentially on its own. This is where the regional Asian relationships India can forge with countries like Iran, Turkey and Russia could be most helpful.Speaking about how India should respond to the US-China rivalry, Menon said: “The ideal position…would be to have better bilateral relations individually with both the US and China than they have with each other”.Finally, Menon spoke at length about how India must reorient its relations with its immediate neighbourhood. He said India can only achieve great power status if it succeeds in doing this.First, Menon said India must separate “domestic, political and ideological considerations” from its policy with its neighbours. More importantly, he said: “India should do what China simply cannot i.e. build regional links, open its markets, schools and services to the neighbours and become a source of economic and political stability in the sub-continent”.In this connection, Menon said it was feasible for India to become “the hub” of the neighbourhood without the involvement of Pakistan, if Pakistan wishes to stay distant and removed. Pakistan’s reluctance should not become a veto on what India does, he explained.Speaking about SAARC, Menon said India must not continue “to spurn SAARC”. He said, “There is a distinct danger that other countries may remain committed to it and move ahead without India”. More importantly, “this could open the door for China being invited to join SAARC without the presence of India”. Therefore, a review of our SAARC policy is urgently needed.In The Wire interview, Menon, a former High Commissioner to Pakistan, also said India should rethink its attitude to cross-border terrorism. As he put it: “Cross-border terrorism from Pakistan has not derailed India’s economic progress, nor has it undermined its political stability, including in Jammu and Kashmir. It is not, therefore, an over-arching threat.”Watch the full interview here.
