Sunday, March 12, 2017


                                               INDIA AND THE WORLD BY SANJAYA BARU
 
 
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India and the World ----Essays on Geoeconomics and Foreign Policy by Sanjaya Baru ; Published by Academic Foundation ; Pages 240 ; Price Rs 995/-

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Sanjaya Baru shot to fame with his book “ The Accidental Prime Minister “ a critique of Manmohan Singh and his times. Baru is a highly respected “ Think—Tanker” who was Chief Editor of a number of financial dailies. Quite recently he was Director, Geo-Economics and Strategy, International Institute of Strategic Studies, London. He was a part of India’s National and Security Advisory Board.

One of his earlier books “ Strategic Consequences of India’s  Economic Performance ” created a great impression and  is a cogent analysis of how India’s improving economic performance had become a strategic differentiator and how “ new relations between India and different parts of the world, especially the East and South-East Asia and the Trans-Atlantic economies had altered India’s global global strategic environment ".  India had to complete the  task of investing in the capabilities of its people to  realise its full potential as one of the great powers. The ideas expounded in this book were  critically re-examined in Baru’s book “Accidental Prime Minister”.

The global financial crisis heralded by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 offered the author an opportunity to study  the nexus between economic performance and shifts in global balance of power. All these find a place in the book under review.

The introductory chapter  analyses the relationship between economic policy and change and national power and politics. The Asian Financial crisis was a truly significant geoeconomic event. A payment crisis was followed by a banking and a financial crisis that resulted in economic slowdown loaded with internal political consequences for the countries as a whole. China emerged as a major power  . China became a Resource guzzler. The Asian Financial crisis led to China’s rise as the original Asian Tigers faltered and the Region’s economies became increasingly dependent on the Chinese economy both for their exports and imports as well as for external assistance.

The next chapter is an incisive analysis of the manner in which high economic performance is determining the contours of geoeconomics and geopolitical balance of power in the post-cold war era. Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz declared that “..Just as the 19th Century was that of Great Britain and the 20th Century of the United States, the 21st Century would be that of China.” However Baru doubts if the 21st Century can be called “ China’s Century”. Unlike Britain and the U S A, China lacks both an Empire and powerful military allies. The global balance of economic power is likely to move in the direction of multi-polarity. China is a major economic power but it has to prove that it can translate its economic power into geo-political power and dominance.

India weathered the ramifications of the “Asian Financial Crisis” through a dynamic fiscal, trade, industrial, financial and banking sector reform. Baru discusses these  with a wealth of statistical data.

The next two chapters offer a detailed analysis of India’s foreign policy viewed from a geoeconomic perspective. Foreign policy was determined by a commitment to tackle India’s developmental needs and the nation’s democratic aspirations. India must maintain the recent momentum of high growth and ensure that it is socially more inclusive and regionally more balanced.

India has espoused a “ rule-based “ multilateral order which recognises her place in the comity of nations as the world’s largest democracy as also a plural, secular and constitutional democracy. Baru discusses thoroughly India’s approach to multilateral institutions like  IMF, World Bank, Gatt and WTO. As a founder member of G-20 India values the need to adhere to “ rule-based multilateral order.

The author has devoted one chapter to the influence of business and media on the nation’s foreign policy recognising the growing influence of civil society and business. The liberalisation of economic policy in 1991 opened a new chapter in government—business interaction in India. Indian Information Technology, software and business process outsourcing industry has changed radically India’s global profile. The role of media is paramount and this is due to erosion of domestic consensus on foreign policy, the burgeoning expansion of media, especially electronic and the growing influence of the middle class and business class.

Two chapters discuss at length India’s economic relations with its neighbouring nations. The SAARC, the SAFTA, the SAEU have enabled reintegrating the sub-continental economy. China has become India’s biggest trading partner by 2014. The two countries will have to address the challenges that have come up at the bilateral, regional and global levels in the spirit of ” Coordination, Cooperation and Competition.” If the two Asian neighbours can translate their own rise into new opportunities for others, resolving the differences in the process, then their individual growth and bilateral cooperation will yield global benefits.

In a final chapter Baru asserts that with the structural shift in the world economy, with Asia making up for the cost, dynamism of the Trans-Atlantic countries, the geography of development has been altered. There is a perceptive analysis of the relations with the Gulf countries which is  a reliable source of energy, a growing and open economy and a stable and plural polity.

The book is a major contribution to comprehending India’s role in  geoeconomics  and is of immense value to economists, policy makers and practitioners of public policy.There is a rich bibliography.

P.P.Ramachandran.
12 / 03 / 2017.
 

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