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Context

Speedy development of the Quad comprising Australia, Japan, India and the U.S.; the emergence of AUKUS comprising Australia, the U.K. and the U.S.; and other alignments raise the question: where does Europe stand in relation to this churning?

Significance of EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy

• Europe’s Asia connect is old, strong and multi-layered.
• Since 2018, countries such as France, the Netherlands, Germany and the U.K. announced their specific policies towards the Indo-Pacific.
• The announcement by the Council of the European Union of its initial policy conclusions in April, followed by the unveiling of the EU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific on September 16, are notable.
• Focus on security and development: The policy document also says cooperation will be strengthened in sustainable and inclusive prosperity, green transition, ocean governance, digital governance and partnerships, connectivity, security and defence, and human security.

Way forward for EU

• Support France: The EU’s security and defence capabilities are quite limited, as compared to the U.S. and China.
• To obviate an imbalance in favour of economic links, EU will need to give adequate space and support to France which has sizeable assets and linkages with the Indo-Pacific.
• Coordination with UK: EU also must forge strategic coordination with the U.K. as the latter prepares to expand its role in Asia as part of its ‘Global Britain’ strategy.
• Leverage economic power: As a major economic power, the EU has an excellent chance of success in its trade negotiations with Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand; economic partnership agreement with the East African Community; and in forging fisheries agreements and green alliances.
• To achieve all this and more, EU must increase its readiness to share its financial resources and new technologies with partners.
• Internally coordinated approach:Many states view China as a great economic opportunity, but others are acutely conscious of the full contours of the China challenge.
• Russia next door is the more traditional threat. It is increasingly on China’s side.
• Hence, the EU should find it easy to cooperate with the Quad.
• AUKUS, endeavours by a part of the western alliance to bolster naval and technological facilities to deal with China should be welcome.

Way forward for India

• India’s pivotal position in the region necessitates a closer India-EU partnership.
• Early conclusion of an ambitious and comprehensive trade agreement and a standalone investment protection agreement will be major steps.
• Cooperation in Industry 4.0 technologies is desirable.
• Consolidating and upgrading defence ties with France, Germany and the U.K. should also remain a significant priority.

Conclusion

The EU can create a vantage position for itself in the Indo-Pacific by being more candid with itself, more assertive with China, and more cooperative with India.

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Context

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been playing internationalist card for national benefit. India, which has been worried about Erdogan’s Islamist politics, must now begin to pay attention to another political idea from the Turkish president — promoting pan-Turkism.

Impact of political ideas on global politics

• Internationalism based on religion, region or secular ideologies has always run headlong into resistance from sectarianism and nationalism.
• Yet, these ideas have a profound impact on global politics.
• Calls for regionalism and internationalism as well as religious and ethnic solidarity often end up as instruments for the pursuit of national interest.

The rise of pan-Turkism

• Foundation of OTS: The international symbol of solidarity among peoples of Turkic ethnicity has been the Council of Turkic States, formed in 2009 by Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
•  At a summit of the Council’s leaders last week in Istanbul, it was announced that the forum has been elevated to an “Organisation of Turkic States”.
• Hungary, which has a long history of association with Turkic people, and Turkmenistan have observer status.
•  At least a dozen other countries have apparently shown interest in getting observer status.
• Implications: There is no escaping the fact that Turkey is determined to rewrite the geopolitics of Eurasia.
• The rise of pan-Turkism is bound to have important consequences for Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Central Asia and, more broadly, India’s Eurasian neighbourhood.

Rise of Turkey in Central Asia

• Soft power initiatives: Over the last three decades, a number of soft power initiatives — in education, culture, and religion — have raised Turkey’s profile in Central Asia and generated new bonds with the region’s elites.
• Military power: It is in the domains of hard power — commercial and military — that Turkey’s progress has been impressive.
• Turkey has stunned much of the world with its military power projection into the region.
• That Kazakhstan, a member of the Russia-led regional security bloc, is moving towards strategic cooperation with Turkey, a member of US-led NATO, points to the thickening pan-Turkic bonds in a rapidly changing regional order.
• The dominance of economy and trade: Nearly 5,000 Turkish companies work in Central Asia. Turkish annual trade with the region is around $10 billion.
• This could change as Turkey strengthens connectivity with Central Asia through the Caucasus.
• For the Central Asian states, living under the shadow of Chinese economic power and Russian military power, Turkey offers a chance for economic diversification and greater strategic autonomy.
• Connectivity: Turkey has also made impressive progress in building transportation corridors to Central Asia and beyond, to China, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
• The so-called Lapis Lazuli Corridor now connects Turkey to Afghanistan via Turkmenistan.

What should be India’s approach towards Turkey?

• Pan-Turkism is a good reason for India to explore a more purposeful engagement with Turkey.
• Issues: There is no denying that the current differences between Delhi and Ankara over Kashmir, Pakistan and Afghanistan are real and serious.
• Need for dialogue: The current political divergence only reinforces the case for a sustained dialogue between the two governments and the strategic communities of the two countries.
• Lessons for India: Turkey’s own geopolitics offers valuable lessons on how to deal with Ankara.
• That Turkey is a NATO member has not stopped Erdogan from a strategic liaison with Russian.
• Purchase of advanced weapons like S-400 missiles from Moscow  does not stop Erdogan from meddling in Russia’s Central Asian backyard.
• Criticism of China’s repression of Turkic Uighurs in Xinjiang — that was once called “Eastern Turkestan” — goes hand-in-hand with deep economic collaboration with Beijing.
• What does this policy tell India? One, Erdogan’s enduring enthusiasm for Pakistan does not preclude Turkey from doing business — economic and strategic — with India.
• Limiting Turkish hegemony: Erdogan’s ambitions have offended many countries in Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Caucasus.
• Many of them are eager to expand strategic cooperation with India in limiting Turkish hegemony.
• This opens a range of new opportunities for Indian foreign and security policy in Eurasia.
• Imperative to engage: Sceptics will point to the fact that Erdogan’s time is running out.
• That does not, however, alter the Indian imperative to engage with Turkey.

Consider the question “Turkey’s influence in Eurasian region is expanding. In this context examine the issues that adds friction between India and Turkey and suggest the approach India should adopt in dealing with Turkey.”

Conclusion

Independent India has struggled to develop good relations with Turkey over the decades. A hard-headed approach in Delhi today, however, might open new possibilities with Ankara and in Turkey’s Eurasian periphery.

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