A Promise Of Renewal

Context: G-7 statement on open societies could form the blueprint for the future engagement between India and the West.

Two important messages emerge from India’s participation in the Cornwall summit (G7):

• One is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proclamation that India is a “natural ally” of the G-7 and its partners. However, the idea is not a new one.
  • Back in the autumn of 1998, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared in New York that India and the US could be “natural allies”.
  • The Cornwall summit thus can be considered as the beginning of an institutionalisation of India’s co-operation with the West.
• The other is the emphasis on shared democratic values that bind India with the West, as reflected in a statement on “open societies”.
  • The G-7 plus statement on open societies is a continuation of an Indian policy that began under Vajpayee, whose government joined President Clinton’s initiative on building a global community of democracies.
  • Manmohan Singh joined the Bush Administration in promoting a global Democracy Fund at the UN.

Significance of participation of India in the Cornwall Summit: While India has occasionally participated in the G7 before, this time, though, it is different on the following counts:

• Renewed interest due to the threat of China: Amidst the growing sense that China has gamed the global economic order, there has been renewed interest in like-minded coalitions like the G-7.
• Consolidation of democracies: The recognition of the case for widening the base of institutions like the G-7 beyond the geographic West to include large democracies like India.
  • In the last two decades, shared commitment to democratic values has helped cement Indo-US relations.
• Engagement with the West: If the Indo-Pacific provides a regional basis for India’s engagement with the US and Europe, mitigating climate change and the management of the Covid-19 pandemic provides a global template for India’s engagement with the West.
• Addressing new challenges: Presented by digital technologies, including radicalisation, disinformation, electoral interference, cyber-attacks and the role of large social media companies.

Way Forward: While the US recognises that the problem of democratic deficit afflicts the US too. The case for renewal and reform of democratic institutions is urgent in both the US and India.