INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS – CLASS 1
As a part of the second phase, today’s class was an “Introduction to the
International Relations” - evidently interlinked with the
current affairs segment. India’s relation with other countries, our foreign
policies and the countries related to it, how effectively India handles the
international relations – will provide a perfect outline regarding the subject.
A policy taken by a government can cause a huge impact on another
country (due to globalization).
Example- a) Presence of the U.S military for 19 years in Afghan,
demolished the Taliban’s. This indeed
made Afghan a democratic country with an elected President and consequently
India built a parliament for Afghanistan.
b) Genetically modified crops issue between India and European Union
(EU). (Though India has commercially banned the genetically modified crops, EU
says India still has few GM crops in its exported crops)
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS – a branch of
political science concerned with relations between nations and primarily with
foreign policies.
India’s relation with another country in terms of trade, defense
cooperation, tourism potential etc.
India maintains a good relationship with countries like Russia,
Australia, Israel, Japan, USA, France, Bhutan etc.
India’s relationship is not up to the mark with countries like China,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka etc.
How does a national issue in a particular part of the nation becomes
internationally recognized?
1) Through social media
2)Global village (the world has shrunk – digital
world, easily connected through newspaper, social media, live telecasts etc.)
U.S – INDIA – RUSSIA:
In 2016, U.S announced India as their “Major Defense partner”.
When India was about to buy the S-400 missiles from Russia, U.S
intervened and imposed sanctions to stop the defense agreement between India
and Russia.
However, India stated that they would buy the S-400 missiles based on
the performance and requirement, as their national interests gained more
importance.
U.S – IRAN – INDIA (Triangular approach):
Iran imposed economic sanctions on U.S as they abandoned the Iran’s
landmark nuclear deal (2015).
India’s investment is more in Iran.
U.S forced India to stop its oil import from Iran (after Iran imposed
economic sanction on U.S), hence India considerably stopped importing much oil
from Iran.
So International Relations and foreign policies are related with
multiple issues, they are “complex” in nature and has to be analyzed
in all dimensions.
Who are the officials involved in executing India’s international
relations?
·
Diplomats
·
Political leaders - Prime Minister, President, Vice
President, Defense Minister, External Affairs Minister- Dr. S. Jaishankar
·
Ministry of External Affairs
·
Officials: Foreign Secretary, Bureaucrats
·
CDS – Chief of Defense Staff
They visit many countries to represent India in International relations.
Prime Minister of India – plays an important role in designing and handling
the foreign policy.
FOREIGN POLICY
·
UPA Government- Dr. Manmohan Singh (then PM)
·
NDA Government- Shri. Narendra Modi (now PM)
Also, the personality of the PM influences the foreign policy traits.
Example: Surprise visit to Pakistan by the Indian Prime Minister- went
viral in December 2015
External Affairs Minister should be effectively able to project India’s
interests internationally and solve various disputes.
“Neighborhood First Policy” – The present Government’s Foreign Policy to create
strong relationships with neighboring countries (who share their borders with
our countries).
Based on location, India has also provided equal attention to the small
islands present in the Pacific Ocean which would furthermore be dealt in the
forthcoming classes.
