US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI2220

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002220 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, KDEM, IN, Indo-US 
SUBJECT: PM SINGH ALIGNS INDIA'S FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES 
WITH THE WEST 
 
REF: NEW DELHI 1426 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary: Signalling a break from India's 
traditional view of the world, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 
declared in a February 25 speech that democracy and open 
economies are now the core of India's foreign policy values, 
replacing non-alignment, solidarity with developing 
countries, and the country's distinct non-Western 
self-definition.  Although largely ignored by the Indian 
media, the PM's address is a topic of discussion among New 
Delhi's strategic elite, several of whom have described to us 
the PM's personal vision of India's role in an international 
concert of democracies.  Despite this welcome change in 
direction, the bureaucracy and political class are likely to 
adapt slowly.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (U) Although virtually ignored by the press, the PM's 
speech at the "India Today" conclave in New Delhi outlined a 
new Indian foreign policy that continues to resonate.  The 
speech, seen as the PM's comprehensive vision for India in a 
post-Cold War world, situates Indian interests more strongly 
than ever with the West, and complements Foreign Secretary 
Saran's February 14 address declaring that India would 
support democratic forces in its neighborhood (Reftel). 
 
Democracy as the Norm 
--------------------- 
 
3.  (U) Linking Indian foreign policy to open economic 
policies, the PM implicitly repudiated India's traditional 
third world solidarity with authoritarian governments, 
proclaiming that "liberal democracy is the natural order of 
political organization in today's world."  "All alternate 
systems," he continued, "authoritarian and majoritarian in 
varying degrees, are an aberration." 
 
4.  (U) The PM emphasized that India's policies toward the 
world should be guided by the core values of liberal 
democracy and secularism, while upholding India's support for 
developing countries.  In fact, he called on India and other 
"developed democracies" to support the emerging democracies 
of "societies in transition," hailing India's assistance to 
Afghanistan as an example. 
 
5.  (U) Singh declared that an open society and open economy, 
not "authoritarian responses," are the best way for a 
government to deliver improvements to its citizens. 
Observing that "democratic methods yield the most enduring 
solutions to the most intractable problems," Singh challenged 
India to "show that democracy can deliver development and 
empower the marginalized." 
 
Open Economies and Good Relations 
--------------------------------- 
 
6.  (U) Reinterpreting the Nehruvian doctrine that 
"ultimately, foreign policy is the outcome of economic 
policy," Singh dwelt at length on the manner in which 
increasingly open economic ties between India and other 
nations have altered bilateral relationships.  He underlined 
that "shared values and growing economic links have enabled a 
closer strategic engagement" with the US. 
 
7.  (U) Singh also noted that India's growing strategic 
interactions with Europe, Russia, and the rest of Asia were 
preceded and shaped by economic ties, and that trade, 
investment, and energy transactions are defining India's 
relations around the globe.  Emphasizing the importance of 
growing economic links, he called for a sense of 
"partnership" in South Asia to replace the narrow political 
calculations that had governed previous bilateral 
interactions with neighbors. 
 
8.  (U) The PM reminded his listeners that India still sees 
itself as a champion of the developing world -- although 
committed to open economic policies to assist development. 
While urging India to take advantage of global markets and 
sources of capital, he promised to seek "the reform and 
democratization of multilateral institutions," and called for 
a strengthening of "South-South cooperation." 
 
9.  (U) Singh concluded that an Indian foreign policy guided 
by commitment to open societies and open economies was not 
only true to India's principles, but would accelerate India's 
efforts to "recover its due status in the world."  The 
development of economic ties and "mutual interdependence" 
would secure "peace, freedom and development in our 
neighborhood." 
Positive Reception by Pundits 
----------------------------- 
 
10.  (U) Leading Indian strategic thinkers have applauded the 
PM's exposition.  In a March 5 article, commentator K 
Subrahmanyan praised the speech as "the first attempt" to 
spell out "India's role in the new international system" 
following the Cold War.  Noting that the PM had "declared 
India as part of the first world of nations which are 
democracies and market economies," he argued that, by 
identifying the opportunities inherent in globalization, 
Singh was advancing Nehru's vision of a world of "free 
cooperation of free people." 
 
11.  (U) In two recent columns, Jawaharlal Nehru University 
(JNU) professor and noted foreign policy expert C Raja Mohan 
highlighted Singh's rejection of India's decades-old 
adversarial relationship with the Western world, and 
declaration of confidence that it can hold its own in a 
global market.  Observing that the PM's call for regional 
economic integration was a radical departure from India's 
traditionally suspicious interactions with its neighbors, he 
posited that the time was ripe to overcome bureaucratic 
conservatism and make dramatic progress in relations with 
Pakistan, China, the US and Japan. 
 
12.  (SBU) The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has gone out of 
its way to highlight the India Today address to foreign 
missions in New Delhi, and the speech was a major focus of 
PMO media adviser Sanjay Baru at the recent Aspen Strategy 
Group meeting.  One columnist told us that the PM had 
referred to the speech as a personal manifesto, reflecting 
the desire to firmly situate India as part of the 
international community of democracies. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
13.  (SBU) Although the PM has now located India squarely in 
the camp of democratic, free-market societies, the GOI must 
make deep changes in its foreign, domestic and economic 
policies to translate his ideas into practice.  India's 
entrenched habits retain a strong hold over its foreign 
policy, including periodic calls for a revitalization of the 
Non-Aligned Movement, repeated at the March 19-20 meeting of 
the G-20.  At the very least, the PM's speech serves as a 
useful reference point to encourage GOI interlocutors to 
support democratic and liberal values, including at the 
present session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, and in 
India's policy toward Burma. 
MULFORD