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India shifts regional geopolitical
cards
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Within a month of the tsunamis
battering 12 countries across South and Southeast
Asia, together with East Africa, India has gained
a new political foothold in the Indian Ocean
region.
Nothing captures this emerging
climate better than the reception extended to
India, itself a victim of the December 26 tsunami,
from Sri Lanka. This week, an Indian naval medical
team was given a rousing farewell as it left the
port town of Trincomalee, in northeast Sri Lanka,
after completing its mission of mercy.
Elsewhere across the South Asian island
similar scenes of gratitude are being enacted to
thank the large contingent of Indian military and
naval personnel who began arriving in Sri Lanka
hours after the tsunami struck as part of New
Delhi's "Operation Rainbow".
"Indian
assistance has had a tremendous impact across Sri
Lanka," Iqbal Athas, a senior defense analyst at
the Sunday Times, a Sri Lankan English-language
weekly, told IPS. "People are thanking them for
coming to the country's rescue despite India also
being affected."
But India's tsunami
assistance rendered to its immediate neighbors can
also be viewed as going beyond the humanitarian
dimension. "India's willingness to help Sri Lanka
and the Maldives clearly indicates that New Delhi
takes an active interest in the region," Betram
Bastiampillai, former professor of history and
political science at Colombo University, said in
an interview.
From the geopolitical front,
New Delhi's helping hand also virtually put a stop
to possible challenges from other contenders for
power and influence in the region, such as China
and the United States, at a time of crisis.
"India's actions were also pursued to prevent
other countries trying to step in ahead of her in
an area that comes under its sphere of influence,"
Bastiampillai added.
India's commitment to
help Sri Lanka - which has the second highest
death toll from the natural disaster, with close
to 38,000 deaths - has not been limited to aid in
the form of assistance from its military and navy,
supported by ships, aircraft and helicopters. New
Delhi has also pledged US$23 million to help
rebuild the South Asian island's coastal areas.
The collective impact of such goodwill has
washed away the bitterness that lingered as a
result of the two previous Indian interventions in
Sri Lanka over the past two decades. The first was
in June 1987, when five Indian military transport
planes dropped 25 tonnes of relief over the north
city of Jaffna. The aid was for the beleaguered
Tamil population under siege following an assault
mounted by Sri Lankan forces against the Tamil
Tiger rebels, who had the northern city under
their command.
Soon after, relations
between New Delhi and Colombo plummeted to an
all-time low, with leading voices of Sri Lanka's
then political establishment lashing out at India,
accusing it of being the region's bully. Then came
the humiliating end to the Indian military's
two-and-a-half years stay in Sri Lanka as part of
an accord signed between New Delhi and Colombo in
July 1987. The Indo-Sri Lanka pact was meant to
usher in peace on the islands northern and eastern
provinces - the areas where the Tamil Tiger rebels
were waging a separatist war to carve out a Tamil
state.
But the Indian Peace Keeping Force
(IPKF) was soon set on by the Tamil Tiger rebels,
resulting in the death of over 1,500 Indian
soldiers and with nearly 3,000 injured. The Sri
Lankan government at the time added to India's
misery by ordering the IPKF out of the country's
shores rather than thanking the Indians for their
assistance.
"The past tensions have been
overcome by what has followed the tsunami," said
defense analyst Athas. "India and Sri Lanka have
forged new, close bonds. There is a new respect
for India."
India's stature in the region
has gained in magnitude due to another
tsunami-related policy - namely New Delhi's
reluctance to accept foreign aid to help its
devastated south-eastern coast, where nearly 9,000
people died due to the killer waves. The Indian
government has taken on the burden of footing the
entire disaster relief bill, estimated at over
$575 million.
Of the 12 tsunami affected
countries, only Thailand, where over 5,300 people
died, ranks with India in turning away direct
foreign aid for relief efforts. Bangkok's decision
was rooted in the self-confidence and pride of
being able to manage its own affairs, as was
reflected by New Delhi.
The diplomatic
edge India has gained by aiding Sri Lanka and the
Maldives has also come in the way of US forces
being showered with all the praise for their
relief efforts in Sri Lanka and the region's worst
hit country, Indonesia, where over 200,000 people
died due to the tsunami.
In fact, an
Indian news magazine reveals that New Delhi's
prompt response to be the first to send relief to
Sri Lanka was largely to preempt Washington
stealing a march over India in its own backyard.
"The decision to deploy relief ships was hastened
by reports of a possible large-scale US deployment
in the region," writes Saikat Datta, in the latest
issue of Outlook. "The Indian response was in tune
with its stated policy of looking after its
strategic interests in the Indian Ocean region,"
added Datta.
And in doing so, the South
Asian nation has achieved a milestone. According
to analysts, India's foreign relief efforts were
the largest since the country gained independence
in 1947.
(Inter Press
Service) |
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