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Asian Angle | Why ‘the India way’ may be the world’s best bet for moral leadership
- Kishore Mahbubani reviews the Indian foreign minister’s new book, The India Way, and finds answers to the world’s leadership vacuum
- As a nation not viewed as a threat, India is well placed to champion an ethical, rules-based order at a time the US, EU and China are unable to step up, he says
Reading Time:5 minutes
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India is entering a geopolitical sweet spot. What does this mean? In a world crying out for a strong, independent voice to provide moral guidance to a troubled planet, the only realistic candidate is India.
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None of the three other obvious candidates – the United States, the European Union and China – can step up to the plate now.
The US is a deeply troubled country, even after the election of Joe Biden. It has travelled the full moral arc from a John F. Kennedy, who famously said, “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty”, to a Donald Trump, whose proclaimed goal was to “Make America Great Again”. In short, America went from caring for the world to caring for itself only.
The EU is faring no better, bogged down with the technical details of Brexit, while struggling to deal with Covid-19, terrorism and a surge of migrants. China is sadly distrusted by the Western world as it is increasingly seen as a threat, not an opportunity. By a process of elimination, that leaves India as the only realistic candidate.
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This is why the book by the Indian Foreign Minister, Dr S Jaishankar, The India Way, is so timely. It provides valuable glimpses of the thinking behind many of India’s policies.
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