Caribbean nations vital to India’s global profile

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting the leaders of the Caribbean islands - more popularly known as the West Indies in cricketing parlance - on September 25 in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly annual session is a positive sign towards deepening relations with this island-studded region. It was the first such prime ministerial-level meeting from India. But now much depends upon how India carries forward the legacy of its own engagement with the Caribbean and particularly how it nourishes the initiative taken by former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

The Sushma Swaraj-led Ministry of External Affairs seemed to have realised the power of the phraseology of “small is dangerous” as she had hosted the IndiaCARICOM Foreign Ministers meet in October 2015 in New York on the sidelines of the UNGA session. But so far there had been no concrete progress in building up on the foreign ministers’ meet, apart from little grants-in-aid philanthropies. Hopefully, the Modi-led leaders’ meet may bring some change. That non-progress, however, is not an aberration either in India’s engagement with the Caribbean. Here are a few salient reasons as to why India should actively seek corrective policy steps towards this islandstudded region as far as India’s emerging profile is concerned.

Since the Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus “discovered” the New World in 1492, the Caribbean has been a hotbed of big-power competitions. The islands were invaded, annexed and exchanged among the European colonial powers, either for expansion of the empires or for supply of economic vitals to their metropoles. These instances turned the Caribbean islands into victory trophies in the colonial profile of the great powers of Europe. Till today, the United State is conscious of that international history of the Caribbean islands, so much so that once President Bill Clinton defined the United States as a “Caribbean state”.

China is on the rise and the Caribbean states have begun to feel that rise in their own waters. This is happening despite the fact that the political culture in these islands (except Cuba) is of parliamentary and multiparty democracy unlike that of China.

The Government of India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) are never tired of saying that India and this region do have synergies and complementarities. They must always keep in sight that the perceived economic synergies and complementarities are premised on the Caribbean political values of seeking an alliance, upholding multilateralism and diversifying international relations in dialogue and in conducting business. These deep-seated political values have emerged out of their colonial experience and only these values provide opportunities to India.

Multilateralism is a pronounced principle in India’s foreign conduct as well. Then why has non-progress – and not alliance and multilateralism in outcome –come to be the defining feature of India’s Caribbean relations? Ethnic Indians in the Caribbean are tired of repeatedly asking this question to the Indian establishment.

The Indian state is ever enthusiastic about boasting of the large population of Indian diaspora present in these islands. The diaspora, too, take great pride in associating with India. The presence of ethnic Indians in some of the main states like Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago are tellingly dominant. The diasporic links, however, have not helped India overtly in cementing ties with this hotbed of greatpower competitions. Perhaps, India’s approach to these far-flung ‘Indians’ is not politically constructive commensurate with the size of the Indian nation - large, diverse, multipronged and inclusive.

The late Sushma Swaraj’s initiative was significant. Perhaps, she understood the value of sovereign votes of the 15 Caribbean states in the various multilateral fora. But that is a traditional approach and the same continues to inform the leaders’ meet. These small islands could be disruptive in consequences – as they endeavour to be – by overcoming smallness in every sense of the term by embracing the power of cuttingedge ICTs. Science and technology as the core of India’s Caribbean policy can do wonders and could be an enduring support to a multipronged and inclusive engagement. Can the Prime Minister of India start a fresh journey by launching a few “Caribbean Community Satellites” in tribute to Sushma Swaraj’s initiative?

They must always keep in sight that the perceived economic synergies and complementarities are premised on the Caribbean political values of seeking an alliance, upholding multilateralism and diversifying international relations in dialogue and in conducting business. These deep-seated political values have emerged out of their colonial experience and only these values provide opportunities to India