India and Southeast Asia: A Personal Narrative from Chennai

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INDIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA Until very recently, when the Indian academics used to point out that China is the only Asian country which had used force to buttress its territorial claims – against India in 1962, against Soviet Union in 1968, against Vietnam in 1974 and 1979 and the Philippines in 1986 – the argument used to be received with understanding and sympathy. I do not know whether Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia will respond in the same way today. ASEAN is sharply divided on China’s long term intentions and capabilities. While Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines share Indian perception, other countries are ambivalent. India must step up its diplomacy in Southeast Asia and enter into dialogue with governments and think tanks. We must follow a calibrated policy towards China and continue the dialogue to broaden the areas of convergence and minimize the areas of dissonance. At the same time, we must be vigilant, for eternal vigilance is not only the safeguard of democracy, it is the only guarantee for our survival. REFERENCES 1.For details refer, V. Suryanarayan, “Forgotten Children of Mother India in Myanmar”, a chapter in Commodore RS Vasan and Jacob Ashik Bonofer, Eds, Developments in Myanmar: Implications for India (Chennai, 2010), pp. 99-110. 2. For details refer V. Suryanarayan, “Sea Unites, Land Divides: Prospects of Maritime Co-operation”, V. Suryanarayan, Ed., Lectures on Maritime Studies (University of Calicut, 2005), pp. 84-95. 3.The full text of the speech is reproduced in Strategic Digest, October 1994, pp 1411- 18. 4.Farish A Noor, What Your Teacher Didn’t Tell You (Kuala Lumpur, 2009), p. 99. 5.Ibid, p.102 6.Charles Hirshmann, “The Making of Race in Colonial Malaya: Political Economy and Racial Ideology”, Sociological Forum, Vol.1, No. 2, p 357 7.Quoted in Farish Noor, n. 4, p. 68 8.V. Suryanarayan, “Diplomacy: Indian Style” (Book Review), South Asia Analysis Group (New Delhi) 9.For details refer K.P. Fabian, Diplomacy: Indian Style (Har Anand Publications, New Delhi, 2012) 10.For details, refer B G Verghese, Reorienting India: The New Geo-Politics of Asia (New Delhi, 2011) 11.V. Suryanarayan, “Old Roads, New Highways”, The Hindu, December 18, 2012 14
IPCS SPECIAL REPORT #139, MARCH 2013 12.Shyam Saran, “Re-Engaging the Neighbourhood: A Personal Perspective on India’s Look East Policy”, Amar Nath Ram, Ed, Two Decades of India’s Look East Policy: Partnership for Peace, Progress and Prosperity (New Delhi, 2012), pp. 131-40. 13.Text of Aung San Suu Kyi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture, November 14, 2012. 14.V. Suryanarayan, “Looking Ahead: India and Southeast Asia in the 1990s: New Perspectives, New Challenges”, Baladas Ghoshal, Ed., India and Southeast Asia: Challenges and Opportunities (New Delhi, 1996), pp. 10-27 15.Vaclav Havel, “Foreword”, Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom from Fear and Other Essays (New Delhi, 1991), p. xiii 16.Suryanarayan, n. 14. 17.Estimated Size of Overseas Indian Community, Country Wise Singhvi Committee on Indian Diaspora, Appendix one (Government of India, New Delhi). 18.Suryanarayan, n. 1 19.Ibid 20.Nayan Chanda “China Ratchets Up Aggression”, Times of India, December 22, 2012 21.Aileen S.P. Baviera, “China: Less Charm, More Offensive”, Asia- Pacific Round Table (Kuala Lumpur), 30 May – 1 June, 2011. 22.Arun Kumar Singh, “A Few Nautical Necessities”, Deccan Chronicle, December 21, 2012 23.Ibid 24.S.R. Nathan, An Unexpected Journey: Paths to the Presidency (Singapore, 2011), p.424. 25. B. Raman, “Singapore Promotes Chinese Nominee as Panchen Lama”, Chennai Centre for Chinese Studies, Paper number 591, September 16, 2010 26.A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad (Kuala Lumpur, 2011), p. 432 15
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India and Southeast Asia: A Personal Narrative from Chennai

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