PM MODI SCRIPTING A WIN-WIN POLICY IN SOUTHERN ASIA

Both Laos and Cambodia can see the difference between the way India under Modi is conducting its diplomacy and China under Xi, including within ASEAN

- MADHAV NALAPAT

NEW DELHI hile China has been seekW ing to break the fundamentally strong ties between India and its South Asian neighbours, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, assisted by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, has ensured the failure of such an effort by the PRC. Through an active diplomatic outreach, India has deepened its linkages across Southern Asia. This is the arc of territory which extends from the Middle East to Southeast Asia.

During the summit held in Laos with ASEAN member states, the Prime Minister pointed out significantly that what was needed was not "expansionism but development". In other words, that in India they would find a partner in opposing expansionism and in boosting development.

Age-old interaction of the region with India and its culture was showcased by a spellbinding Laotian rendering of the Ramayana. Other versions of the timeless epic are regularly presented before audiences in other countries within ASEAN such as Indonesia and Cambodia. What has supercharged the revival of such cultural and other links since 2014 is the stress placed by PM Modi in his interactions with ASEAN leaders on the imperative of working together to ensure a pathway to progress with 21st century characteristics.

In similar fashion, countries to the west of India, including those in the GCC, have been the focus of similar attention. Here again, unlike what takes place with a neighbour of India, the stress is not on Zero Sum outcomes in which one side gets all while the other side gets nothing, but on Win Win outcomes where both sides benefit.