Bishkek and beyond

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have just assumed office for his second term, but is an old hand at international mega-jamborees. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting at Bishkek was the perfect place to open his second-term innings. On an easy wicket, he was able to make India’s point of view about Pakistan and terrorism heard by the heads of the eight-nation SCO. He also had all-important tête-à-têtes with China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. On the way there, he made a political point to Islamabad that all wasn’t forgiven by avoiding Pakistan airspace even though his plane had been granted special overflight rights. Pakistan air space has been closed to Indian aircraft ever since the Balakot raid. Modi also politely rejected China’s efforts once again to draw it into its ambitious Belt-and-Road Initiative. Modi obliquely threw a jab at China in a speech by saying territorial rights of all states should be respected, a reference to Beijing’s construction of a highway to Gwadar in Baluchistan through territory claimed by India.

In today’s unpredictable, fractured world, it’s crucial than India widens its outreach. At one level, it would like closer ties with the US but President Donald Trump’s trade-warfare and adversarial style, even with American allies, means India must cultivate all the international friends it can. Days after Trump scrapped India’s preferential trade benefits, Modi made a pointed reference to the rise of protectionism and called for adherence to a “rules-based” and “WTO-centred” system and underlined how New Delhi wants smooth economic cooperation among SCO members. As of Sunday, India has also slapped retaliatory tariffs on 28 US goods in response to US tariffs on Indian steel and aluminium products.

But the main thrust of India’s Bishkek diplomacy was directed against Pakistan. Imran Khan’s been pressing for dialogue, but apart from an exchange of pleasantries Modi rejected even a brief sidelines meeting and told leaders that nations aiding or funding terror must be held accountable. The Pakistanis complain India harshly rebuffed Khan’s overtures. But India firmly believes Pakistan’s friendly noises are guided only by its need to stay on the right side of the US and its Western allies while its IMF loan’s being negotiated. Also, Pakistan needs to convince the world about its honourable intentions at a time when it’s already been grey-listed by the FATF — the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering. The SCO, created in 2001, is only now coming into its own as a regional organisation that can play a key global role. India and Pakistan were admitted to the Eurasian grouping in 2015 and their entry means the organisation can now boast a membership representing half the world’s population. It also gives India another link with strategically key Central Asian nations. In the fast-changing world scenario, though, India now must swiftly figure out how it can leverage its SCO membership to buttress its own trade-and-security goals.

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