Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would surely have wanted a substantive first trip abroad in his second term. He is stuck instead with the current compulsion to present himself at a forum — the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation — of which India is not a member. Moscow has left Delhi with no wiggle room by clubbing the SCO summit with the gathering of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) leaders at Yekaterinburg next week. Dr. Singh must now pay obeisance at both the SCO, owned by China, and the BRIC forum, run by Russia. At a moment when his own international standing has risen after the recent elections, Dr. Singh will now play a minor part in a big diplomatic parade.

The problem is not one of protocol. Realists don’t mind diplomatic crawling if an important national purpose is served. But it is difficult to fathom India’s gains at Yekaterinburg. Meanwhile, the contradictions between India’s interests and those of Russia and China in the Great Game territory have become sharper. Russia would love to see the US humbled in Afghanistan. India, on the other hand, wants the Taliban defeated in the Af-Pak region. If the US turns its back on Afghanistan, Beijing knows, Kabul will come under the sway of Pakistan, China’s all-weather friend. India’s interest is the opposite — preserving Kabul’s autonomy vis-a-vis Pakistan.

India can’t object to the Chinese and Russian definition of their self-interests in Afghanistan. But there is no reason why Delhi should become a clapper boy for Beijing and Moscow in Central Asia. Delhi’s differences Beijing and Moscow on the Af-Pak region are real and must be addressed purposefully. That, however, can only be done at solid bilateral engagements with the Chinese and Russian leaders; not at the diplomatic jamboree that Yekaterinburg promises to be.

... contd.