Opinion Move like Beijing

As it tightens its hold over the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine, Moscow’s international isolation appears complete. The debate in the 15-member United Nations Security Council on Saturday ended with Russia vetoing a draft resolution moved by the West, and China abstaining. All the 13 other members of the SC backed the resolution. China’s decision to differentiate itself from Moscow over Ukraine marks an important break in the growing political collaboration between Beijing and Moscow on the international stage. China, which values its strategic partnership with Russia as a means to counter the US and Western domination of the world, appears determined to develop an independent approach to the crisis in Ukraine and exploit its leverage with both America and Russia.

If realpolitik on Ukraine is bound to serve China’s interests well, Beijing’s three-point proposal on Ukraine offers a way out of the re-emerging confrontation between Russia and the West in the middle of Europe. For one, China called for the early establishment of an “international coordination mechanism” to explore a political settlement to the crisis. Quite clearly, such a mechanism would take the issue out of the Russia-West equation and enhance China’s own weight in the management of the crisis. Second, China has called for an international financial package that will help Ukraine overcome its current economic woes. Beijing’s empathy for the people of Ukraine fits in nicely with China’s growing investments in the country. Finally, China is urging both Russia and the West to refrain from further actions — an early Russian decision to annex Crimea or Western economic sanctions against Moscow — that will only deepen the crisis.

Advertisement

Russia and America may not heed China’s wise words on Ukraine. But Delhi could learn a thing or two from Beijing’s masterly handling of the crisis. The UPA government has had little to say on the developments in Ukraine. But what little it said suggested a tilt towards Russia, despite India’s well-known opposition to intervention in the internal affairs of nations and the use of plebiscites to break the territorial integrity of states. The UPA government has rediscovered the slogan of non-alignment, but appears to have lost the ability to navigate the rapidly shifting dynamic among the great powers. The UPA’s vacuous non-alignment has become a metaphor for the loss of self-confidence in Indian foreign policy over the last few years.