Not by sarkar alone

The notion that the Government of India could profitably divest itself of some of the responsibilities for regional economic cooperation would alarm the traditionalists in our foreign policy establishment. But for far too long, government departments have had a monopoly on crossborder projects. As a result, connectivity of all kinds between India and her neighbours has deteriorated over the years. The natural incompetence of the governmental sector has been multiplied by the politicisation of many projects that could have brought immense benefit to a large number of peoples across South Asian borders.

We now have a welcome departure from this grim tradition. The plans, reported in this paper, of the Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services to expand and modernise the connectivity between electric grids of India and Nepal could set the pace for the long overdue economic integration in the subcontinent. The Indian private sector, which is moving into infrastructure development at home, could contribute equally well in reconnecting the South Asian markets. Above all it could liberate trans-border cooperation from the many foreign policy disputes between India and her neighbours.

South Block’s focus, as well as that of our embassies, should be on encouraging our neighbours to develop economic policies that are in their own enlightened interest as well as friendly to Indian capital. North Block must chip in by unveiling new financial instruments to assist the Indian private sector in increasing their economic presence in the region. China has already shown us in South and Southeast Asia how to extend national influence beyond borders through an imaginative regional economic policy. If India wants to take advantage of the current impulses for globalisation in the subcontinent and does not wish to cede its regional primacy, it needs to concentrate on devising new policy instruments while handing over the developmental work itself to the private sector.