India has a position for itself as a Great Power in the 21st century and has extended its sphere of influence in the South Pacific as well.
Its ‘Observer’ status at the recently concluded Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Auckland is an indication of its graduation on the world terrain of power politics.
Established 40 years ago in Wellington, the PIF has changed from the heydays of the Cold War of the 1970s. The Forum is today an important bloc of the Asia Pacific region.
Further, countries in the South Pacific, out of the colonial rule, benefited from the “Third Waves of Democracies” and were keen on being members of multilateral forums such as the UN and the PIF.
India has somewhat distanced itself from the region, with the last State visit by a Prime Minister occurring in 1982.
But its interest in that region was minimal until the early part of the 21st century when it started to attend the PIF. One of the reasons why India was interested in the PIF was that the founding member of Fiji has been now banned from attending its meetings.
Fiji accounts for a large Indian Diaspora, who are descendants of indentured labourers from India, who went to work (between 1879 and 1916) in the sugarcane fields, mainly from the Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The realisation of embracing the ‘lost generations’ was among the main factors that encouraged India to engage with the PIF.
However, India’s assertion has been negligible, illustrated by its inability (or unwillingness) to influence the PIF in getting Fiji back to its fold.
It has been argued that if the UN Charter does not have an explicit clause to promote democracies and mandates its member-states to be democratic, then regional multilateral forums cannot dictate the form of government that a state should have within their borders.
Fiji has a functional state and is on a transitory path towards a constitutionally functioning democracy in the near future. If Fiji can participate as a sporting country in the Ruby World Cup 2011, it should have been allowed to participate in the meetings of the PIF held in Auckland last week.
If Fiji’s non-democratic path is a reason to seclude it from the PIF, then China also comes under the umbrella of non-democratic states and no country in the region has qualms of being partners with this economic powerhouse.
Fiji needs India
Left alone in the region, Fiji needs a country like India for effective economic development. The Indian Government, which sent its Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur to the PIF meetings in Auckland could have used the opportunity to lobby on behalf of Fiji.
Such a move would have sent the right signals to the Diaspora. New Delhi would have scored a point with Indians in the region that it has interest in their political and economic wellbeing.
Editor’s Note: Ms Kaur addressed a meeting of the Indian community organised by the Auckland Indian Association and the New Zealand Indian Central Association at the Mahatma Gandhi Centre on September 10, during which she extolled the role played by the Indian Diaspora in promoting friendly relations between New Zealand and India. India’s High Commissioner Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Teresa Mehta, National MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and leaders of the community attended the meeting. The (Indian Newslink) picture here shows (from left) AIA President Harshad Patel, NZICA President Paul Singh Baines, Ms Kaur, Mr Mehta, Mrs Mehta and Mr Bakshi at the meeting.
