Introduction
SAARC is committed to promoting South Asia’s social advancement, economic growth, and cultural development. The aims of SAARC were: to promote the good of and improve the quality of life of the people of South Asia, to hasten social progress, economic development, and cultural development through the opportunity for all people to live in dignity to comprehend their full potential (Nadkarni, 2014). The aim was to encourage and reinforce collective autonomy among countries in South Asia, contribute to reciprocated trust, appreciate the problems of each other, promote mutual assistance and collaboration in the fields of cultural, social, economic, technical, and scientific matters. The first and main aim of India’s foreign policy is to safeguard the national interests of India. The definition and scope of national interest have over time taken on multiple dimensions, including the defense of the borders of India and hence territorial integrity, cyber security, food security and safety of energy, the fight against terrorism, money laundering, and the fight against drugs and trafficking in people. The Foreign Policy of India has three beneficial effects on SAARC members: political, economic, cultural, and social diplomacy to help SAARC achieve its goals.
Literature Review
Social diplomacy benefited SAARC nations in peace nurturing. Cordial ties and fruitful collaboration with the neighbors of India, especially South Asian SAARC founding members, have long been a priority (Gupta & Choudhary, 2013). The neighborhood of India is a very complicated geographical entity. South Asia was a place of blind intergovernmental and civil conflicts in the post-colonial period; it has experienced nuclear competition, liberation, military tyrannies and is still suffering from religious fundamentalism, insurrections, and terrorism, apart from severe narcotics and trafficking issues. The area as well has the uncertain peculiarity of having many individuals below the poverty level (Nadkarni, 2014). The area has produced many strong female leaders, but there is still more to be done overall to empower women. With regard to the gauge of religious tolerance, the component nations vary from flexible, secular to fiercely fundamentalist.
Where is India in this dangerous region? In more than one way, the situation of India is exceptional. India shares boundaries with all other southern Asian countries as an intriguing geographic feature, while no other South Asian nation shares borders with any other southern Asian country (Majid, 2020). Despite some flaws, democracy and the rule of law are well-established as tools of democratic government in India. Power transfer was more or less calm and open. Relatively speaking, India may be regarded as the most stable nation in the area, pushing forward with rapid tracks of development and recording high growth rates on average. India further distinguishes itself among a range of other South Asian countries with respect to population, territory, Gross Domestic Product, its image as a developing world economy and an answerable nuclear de facto nation, and as a republic that is intended to play a greater role on the international scene, and similarly for many other reasons (Jain, 2005). Indeed, in the South Asian area, India may be considered to dwarf neighboring countries. These asymmetries have generated misunderstandings about India and its purpose throughout time.
In the area, there are unfair and wrong views about India circulating around: ‘Big Brother is bullying a smaller neighbor;’ ‘India regards its neighbors as a neglected garden,’ etc. The “trust gap” has no justifiable explanation. On top, there are entrenched interests and lobbying, which are associated with being anti-Indian and being nationalistic and nationalist. And then, in the course of a more or less failing and rogue country in the neighborhood (Pakistan), there are powerful institutions that want to see ties with India in a condition of continuous suspension. Even in instances of benign economic cooperation offers leading to win-win scenarios, Indian intentions are questioned. Sometimes India’s internal compulsions resulting from regional and coalition policy further complicate things.
Furthermore, some of the Indian neighbors often play the so-called “China Card” In a situation where one end is wrong with Pakistan, where the other ends of the spectrum are really friendly Bhutan and everyone else, it may be impossible to draw out a single foreign policy need for the whole area. Initiated in 2014, India’s “Neighborhood First Policy” is focusing on various goals to revitalize ties, eliminate a deficit of trust and establish bridges of mutually beneficial collaboration, both bilaterally and within SAARC’s framework (Iqbal, 2006). Given these goals, the Prime Minister has been actively involved in the region’s leadership in the past four years. The result is mixed. India’s ties with Bhutan are outstanding. There are even knee connections with Bangladesh; the two nations have entered with several historic accords, like the 2015 Land Boundary Agreement. The potential expense of Indian strategic interests was diverted to China by Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Nepal also seems to go in this way (Goel, 2004). But India has made a re-evaluation of its foreign policy in these three nations, and today there is ample evidence that it wants to balance its ties with India and China.
India worked to have better relationships with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and China. Relationships with Pakistan are at their lowest level, despite the huge efforts made by the Indian leadership to improve their ties, including a surprise stop from Kabul to India by PM Modi at Lahore. It would be wrong to call the Indian strategy of Pakistan a failure. Pakistan’s policies in India are governed by its Army and ISI and, as long as they do not stop their stated policies of handing India thousands of cuts, the prospects of normalization are extremely dim (Sen, 2014). In the conditions, India has chosen a policies where terror and talks cannot be combined and India will not restart dialog with Pakistan until there is a stop to cross-border terrorist acts and meddling in Cashmere.
The emphasis of India in Afghanistan is on helping to rebuild war-torn Afghanistan and helping Afghanistan establish democratic institutions and strengthening capabilities via training programs. India’s support in the area of $3nn has been used in Afghanistan to construct its Parliament, roads, schools, and many other infrastructure projects, including small towns and villages, making it highly valued by both the government and the people of Afghanistan (Ashraf et al., 2020). India’s present Chinese strategy is based on four Cs: Cooperation and cooperation, including international and global problems, when feasible, 2 Conflict: avoid as much as possible without sacrificing national interests, 3. Enter Chinese increasing influences, especially in Indian neighborhood, and ultimately confront them if any action by China violates India’s interests.
The institutional structures responsible for diplomacy include high-level contacts, discussions with foreign offices, and intergovernmental committees. The greatest contact and framework for pressing for foreign policy goals are bilateral visits to Heads of State and Government or the meetings at multilateral conferences such as UNGA. Significant homework is done at an official level before such meetings ever take place. Foreign Minister visits/meetings also come under this category (Ashraf et al., 2020). Conversely, the Senior Officials of both nations have regular meetings and typically concentrate on exchanging views on key issues of importance to the bilateral, regional and international aspects. Usually, the contents are political. The Commissions are generally composed, depending on the existing and potential sphere of co-operation, of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant nodal ministries and meet periodically to review the state of co-operation in different fields. Action programs are often approved for a period of two to three years.
Economic diplomacy had many advantages to SAARC countries. Political knowledge does not inevitably result in good commercial and economic ties since such interactions are frequently driven by business concerns; economic diplomacy is important here. Economic diplomacy’s primary goal is to boost bilateral commerce in goods and services, decrease trade imbalances and attract foreign direct investment (Kumar, 2015). To this end, India’s foreign policy-makers select appropriate partners and engage in framework agreements such as Double Taxation Agreements, FAA, and Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement. In the context of internal compulsions to ensure overall inclusive development, economic diplomacy takes additional significance. In this framework, diplomacy aims to discover raw material sources, new technologies, and equipment that may help the overall growth of India in many areas, from agriculture to the military.
Political and cultural diplomacy. A high level of political awareness is important to creating an atmosphere in which cooperation and collaboration may be promoted and irritants in mutual interactions minimized (Obino, 2009). Even small issues may blow up in the lack of political understanding and impede the normal development of interactions. That is why political diplomacy and the so-called delicate chemistry between the leaderships are important. Cultural diplomacy is a complement to political and economic diplomacy and is helpful in every area of the history of religious and cultural ties, in the presence of the Indian Diaspora and Indian soft power as represented in Yoga, Indian Cinema, and Indian food.
Conclusion
In conclusion, India’s foreign policies have established better relationships and development with other SAARC country members. India has worked on promoting foreign policy trade and economic cooperation in order to solve the fundamental issues of poverty, hunger, illnesses, unemployment, and the region via combined effort by the members of the SAARC. Conversely, cultural diplomacy was employed as a complement to political and economic diplomacy and is of value anywhere there is a history of religious and cultural relations, where the existence of a large Indian diaspora is present. Concerning political diplomacy, it was crucial to establish an atmosphere that encourages cooperation and collaboration and minimizes irritation in mutual interactions. Nevertheless, social diplomacy helped India to make peace with its neighbors and SAARC country members.
References
Ashraf, T., Nasrudin, M., & Akhir, M. (2020). Revisiting SAARC: A perspective from Pakistan. South Asian Studies, 32(2).
Goel, O. P. (Ed.). (2004). India and SAARC engagements (Vol. 2). Gyan Publishing House.
Gupta, R., & Choudhary, N. (2013). Unofficial Diplomacy at Work: A Saarc Perspective. American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 3 (1).
Iqbal, M. J. (2006). SAARC: origin, growth, potential and achievements. Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, 27(2).
Jain, R. (2005). India and SAARC: An Analysis. Indian Journal of Asian Affairs, 18(2).
Kumar, S. S. (2015). China’s SAARC Membership: The Debate. International Journal of China Studies, 6(3).
Majid, D. (2020). SAARC Prospects and Challenges. South Asian Studies, 33(1).
Malhotra, A. (2018). Distinguished Lectures Details. Mea.gov.in.
Nadkarni, V. (2014, July). India and SAARC. In FLACSO-ISA Joint International Conference, Buenos Aires.
Obino, F. (2009). SAARC: The political challenge for South Asia and beyond. Economic and Political Weekly.
Sen, R. (2014). India’s South Asia Dilemma and Regional Cooperation: Relevance of Cultural Diplomacy. Strategic Analysis, 38(1).
