I n the new geopolitical contestation and great power rivalry that has seen the United States and China pitched against each other in spreading their respective spheres of influence in various regions of the world, the smaller countries are exposed to their vulnerabilities when wooed either by strategic compulsions or economic doles. Both are fraught with danger to their identities and future. In this competition matrix, there are proxy states that align with either of the two competitors as their choices are limited. In this scenario, where does India find itself and how does it conduct its foreign policy? India is not a pushover country.

It has the spine to stand firm on its own convictions keeping its national interests in mind and takes its own independent decisions on whether or not to ally with either of the two. There is no compromise on that. Though India has found a common view point recently on many regional and global issues with the US, China is a problematic country because of its aggressive style of foreign policy. Its policy of aggrandizement and territorial expansion in recent times has worried many of its neighbours. It has territorial disputes with many Asian countries including with India, besides over the global commons such as the South China Sea. It has poached many of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies with a view to isolate Taipei internationally. It considers Taiwan as a renegade state and one that must be incorporated with the mainland, if necessary by force.

China has used its economic inducement strategy to wean away a number of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to its side, thereby leaving Taiwan with only 14 countries as diplomatic partners that maintain formal diplomatic ties with the territory claimed by China. Marshall Islands is one of the Pacific Island nations that is committed to maintaining ties with Taiwan at a time when the latter is facing increased diplomatic pressure from Beijing. To counter China in its poaching strategy, India too in its Pacific outreach has agreed to help the Marshall Islands with infrastructure projects as part of its broader strategy to enhance collaboration with the countries of the Indo-Pacific.

Diplomatic relations between India and the Marshall Islands were established in April 1995. India was among the first countries to establish diplomatic ties with the Marshall Islands. The country is a member of the Pacific Islands Forum, of which India is an official dialogue partner. India’s plan to develop community infrastructure projects in the Marshall Islands includes construction of a community sports centre, airport terminal, and two community centres. During his visit to the Marshall Islands, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar signed a MoU as part of India’s annual grant-in-aid. India is also working on providing desalination and dialysis units to address healthcare needs in the Pacific nation.

All such initiatives are because India recognises the priorities and needs of the Pacific island nations. Other areas of cooperation that are identified, besides healthcare, include education and capacity building, development and SME sector, renewables, and clean water facility. India’s foreign policy activism thus stretches beyond the Asean region to the Pacific Islands. This was demonstrated by Jaishankar’s promise of India’s commitment to help the Pacific Islands partner countries in multiple sectors. Later this month, Mr Jaishankar will travel to Laos to attend the India-Asean foreign ministers’ meet, and then the Quad foreign ministers’ meet in Tokyo. India’s growing engagement with the Pacific was institutionalised when the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) was formed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Fiji in November 2014. It was established as a platform for dialogue and cooperation.

This multinational grouping between India and 14 Pacific Island countries covers the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. In August 2023, Prime Minister Modi travelled to Papua New Guinea (PNG) for the third edition of the summit, during which he announced a slew of projects for the region. When Papua New Guinea faced deadly landslides, India announced immediate relief assistance worth $1 million to the country and, interestingly, a part of the Indian relief reached affected areas on Australian aircraft.

Meanwhile, the Indian and American governments collaborated to train Fijian doctors at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) in Mohali, Punjab. PM Modi’s visit to PNG highlighted India’s vision of the strategic significance of Pacific Island nations that have also received attention from China. As said, there is a competition with China to engage with the Pacific island nations. While in 2022, China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, PM Modi was conferred with the highest honour of Fiji ~ the Companion of the Order of Fiji ~ and the highest award of PNG ~ the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL) There are several imponderables that the Pacific Island nations face and India recognises those. These island nations face geographical disadvantages ~ scattered islands that affect logistics, small land area that affects mass production, and remoteness that disadvantages them in accessing major markets, problems in communication, human interaction and transportation costs.

Climate change also has left its huge impact on these islands, which have become virtual laboratories for the earliest impacts of the climate threat. The World Bank research has estimated the average annual cost to small island states from natural disasters as being equivalent to almost two per cent of GDP. Though India is committed to help in the economic development of these islands, the security aspects take the primacy of attention. There exist serious security and governance related challenges. For example, since these island nations have vast coastlines and large EEZs, there is a demand for capacity building in coastal security and EEZ management. The numerous maritime disputes on the periphery of the Pacific, especially in the South China Sea and East China Sea, threaten the maritime security of these nations.

(The writer is a former Senior Fellow at the Pradhanmantri Memorial Museum and Library (PMML), Ministry of Culture, Government of India)