LEAD : THE HINDU : Summit over substance 18/09/2016 : 10 POINTS :
8th Annual summit of BRICS in Goa on October 15-16, 2016. India’s Act East policy.
Theme of the India summit : “Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions”
TRICK TO REMEMBER THE HOSTS OF SUMMITS : Interchange the first two words of BRICS. i.e., RB-CI-S-BRI.
India - instead of calling SAARC mems, asked the BIMSTEC members to host. But why? to avoid having to invite Pakistan.
BIMSTEC + SAARC summits have been somnolent(inactive/sleepy) since its inception.
The China-Russia dynamic : Greater world attention on this summit coz., China + Russia they defied the U.S. and the West .
Sino-Russian joint naval exercises= South China Sea off the coast of Guangdong province.
china rejected international tribunal award on SCS dispute.
India-Russia-China trilateral Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Moscow (04/2016) : respecting Principles of International law + UNCLOS ; Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and the Guidelines for the implementation of the DOC.
But this happened before the NSG issue - in which china denied our membership to NSG + blocking at the UN of naming the Pakistani Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a terrorist.
A triangular game : Brazil + Africa : both suffering from both political and economic turmoil. We cannot expect any notable initiatives from them.
strong and categorical statement on counter-terrorism by india - would be hardly acknowledged by CHINA OR RUS. BRAZ OR AFR = no role to play.
Outcomes of the summits :
New Development Bank + its indian prez K.V. Kamath = we received $300 million from this bank. But Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) led by the Chinese is more powerful.
The Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) = but not implemented yet.
BRICS Credit Rating Agency = to challenge the monopoly of the West ; less value.
Possibility of BRICS trade Agreement V. Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)
Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC), which is a platform for India’s exclusive engagement with the countries of Indo-China (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam) and Myanmar + BIMSTEC = India - due to involvement in geopolitical issues - unable to play a significant role in shaping its emerging economic and security architecture.
Trailing on connectivity : Our capacities and institutions continue to lag behind our ambitions. If we open up any connectivity plans, it may not seem as “fresh initiatives” + end up supplementing China's ambitious One Belt, One Road initiative.
it is time to move from an event-oriented to a process-driven approach = to become regionally and as a globally significant player.
