2006 marked by thrust on 'economic diplomacy'

New Delhi, Dec 31: The year 2006, as it comes to a close, marked awatershed period for India's foreign policy with thrust on economicdiplomacy and some landmark developments including the Indo-US CivilianNuclear Agreement crossing some major bottlenecks.

The appointment of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjeeafter much speculation, Minister of State for External Affairs AnandSharma, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon with resultant protests andresignations, forward movement on the Indo-US Nuclear deal, the revivalof the Composite Dialogue Process (CDP) with Pakistan, emphasis oneconomic diplomacy and a flurry of high-profile visits, marked the yearfor the External Affairs Ministry.

However, even though positive, India's Foreign Policy optionsvis-a-vis Pakistan need careful handling in 2007 as nothing concretecould be achieved in 2006 in terms of curbing cross-border terrorismexcept the revival of the CDP which had been suspended in the wake ofthe Mumbai bomb blasts which claimed nearly 190 lives.

Also, Islamabad did not respond in any meaningful manner to Newdelhi's concerns on terrorism and frequently offered 'out-of-box'solutions.

The Indo-US Civilian Agreement was by far the most positivedevelopment which crossed some hurdles after the US Congress gave itsgreen signal and President George Bush signed the Bill into an Act forchange of a US law.

Visits by Saudi King Abdullah bin Al Saud, President Bush, ChinesePresident Hu Jintao, French President Jacques Chirac, Jordanian KingAbdullah and Queen Rania, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, CyprusPresident Tassos Papadopoulos, Australian Prime Minister John Howard,Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and Bangladesh Prime MinisterKhaleda Zia were just a few of the landmark visits to India this year.

Positive developments notwithstanding, the biggest challenges cameduring the Israeli raid on Hamas, the kidnapping and killing of Indianengineer K Suryanarayana by the Taliban and the election of itscandidate for the UN Secretary General's post, Shashi Tharoor. While,evacuation of Indian nationals from the region during the West Asiaconflict was a feather in the cap, failure to get Suryanarayanareleased or garner enough suppoprt for Shashi Tharoor's victory wereclear blemishes.

Developments in Nepal and Sri Lanka also kept the Indian Foreign Ministry on tenterhooks.

Even though for India-Pakistan, 2006 marked a period of missedopportunities with no tangible progress on critical issues includingSiachen, both countries are opimisic about 2007 as External AffairsMinister Pranab Mukherjee visits Pakistan on January 13.

The two countries also gave shape to a Joint Anti-terrorInstitutional Mechanism to enable them to cooperate in the fightagainst the scourge.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf presented a four-point formulafor resoluion of Kashmir problem while Prime Minister Manmohan Singhcalled for a Treaty of Peace, Security and Friendship between the twocountries.

Dr Manmohan Singh also held talks with the Pakistan President atHavana on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Summit where the Jointanti-terror mechanism was conceived.

This marked a thaw in bilateral relations and Pakistan ForeignMinister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri came to India on a private visit.

The peace-building process was kept going with the launch of atrain beween Munabao in Rajasthan and Khokrapar in Sindh and theAmritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service.

However, India's emphasis in 2006 was on economic diplomacy.

With the induction of a veteran Congress leader who is a notedeconomist and a former Finance Minister, India's motive was clear.

Mr Mukherjee himself made it clear when he said immediately aftertaking over the Ministry that he would concerntrate on peace andeconomic development in the country and the region as a whole.

What followed was heightened developments on the economic front, aseries of commerce and trade-related agreements with many countries andemphasis on economic development of the region.

Indicating a thrust on eonomic diplomacy, even with China, the focus ofdiscussions with visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao was bilateraleconomic cooperation rather than security and border controversy. Asmany as ten agreements were signed with China during the visit ofPresident Hu from November 20-23, mainly on bilateral economiccooperation.

Visits by the Prime Minister to Japan (December 14-16), to the UKand Finland (October 9-14), South Africa (September 30-October 3),Brazil and Cuba (September 10-18), St. Petersburg for the G-8 Summit(July 16) and Germany and Uzbekistan (April 22-26) were the occasionswhich marked India's heightened economic engagement.

The visits of U S President George Bush to India from March 1-3,Saudi King Abdullah and Chinese President Hu Jintao were alsoindicators of India's arrival on the international scene.

India hosted the Second Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan which was attended by a number of world leaders.

Engagement with African countries was also high on thegovernment's agenda this year with several African leaders visitingIndia.

The focus of the visits was economic engagement and severalbilateral trade-related agreements were signed with respectivecountries.

In another development at the UN, India's candidate ChandrashekharDasgupta was elected to the Committee on Economic, Social and CulturalRights of the ECOSOC for the term 2007-2010. The elections were held onMay 10.

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights deals withthe International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights towhich India is a Party. The Members nominated to the Committee areexperts with recognised competence in the field of human rights, andthey serve in their personal capacities.

UNI