Purvodaya Perspectives 2023

India's Connectivity Diplomacy: Purvodaya as the Regional Anchor

Connectivity has assumed centrality in India's foreign policy as India's global footprint has increased manifold. Trade and commerce have emerged as significant drivers, contributing not only to India's growth story but also facilitating regional progress. Recently, while speaking at the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment at the G20 Summit, Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, “Strong connectivity and infrastructure is the base of development of humanity. India has prioritised this in its developmental journey.”

India's neighbourhood policy stands on the twin benign principles of 'neighbourhood first' and 'first responder' Over the past few decades, India has taken a lot of initiatives to build connectivity corridors - both on its Eastern and Western flanks. Some such initiatives cutting across regions include the Asia Africa Growth Corridor, INSTC, Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor and the India-Middle East Economic Corridor (IMEC) launched at the sidelines of the G-20 summit. Within the region, the Trilateral Highway connecting Northeast India, Myanmar and Thailand, BBIN, BIMSTEC have been launched to accelerate regional economic integration. Cross-border land, sea and riverine routes for movement of merchandise using multi-modal transportation through Bangladesh will enable faster transportation to the Northeast region. The underlying philosophy has been our emphasis to grow together in the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.

India's policy is not just professed but translated into tangible action. Till 2020, our Lines of Credit(LoC) have been directed at building physical infrastructure (46%), electrification and renewable energy (21%) and trade facilitation (8%). focused on creating connectivity networks across South and SouthEast Asia, Central Asia and Africa. Our connectivity initiatives are aimed not in asset building and asset acquisition but to promote the historic linkages which India has had since ancient times. With a view to further these age-old socio-cultural linkages and blend them into our connectivity diplomacy, the Ministry of External Affairs has created a special unit. (Development Partnership Administration-IV) India and South and South East Asia are interwoven by centuries old cultural ties bound by deep maritime connect. India's relations with its maritime neighbours in South and south East Asia have been significant. During the Covid 19 this seamless border connectivity allowed India to deliver essential commodities to its neighbours.

While emphasis has been placed to augment the existing cross border transport networks and economic corridors, India's connectivity construct envisions putting in place mechanisms going way beyond mere physical corridors. Energy and electricity connectivity, digital connectivity, socio-cultural connectivity cemented by marital and familial relationship have contributed to the larger people to people connectivity. India's maritime assets are now being exploited for delivering greater good through Sagarmala and project Mausam to anchor the cultural lineage. 95% of the country's trade volume and 65% of the trade value is carried through maritime transport. India's maritime heritage has a long historical legacy where the imprint of Indian culture is visible in art and temple architecture, folklore and literature of the South East Asian countries. Prime Minister Modi has emphasised the importance of harnessing the potential of Eastern India to fuel the next level of national growth. In this context Bay of Bengal and Eastern South Asia and its historical linkages with South East Asia assumes significance to push growth corridors and revive ancient maritime linkages.

Our regional connectivity is intertwined with rhythm of monsoonal winds, circulatory Indic cultural heritage of thousand years, centuries of cultural exchanges of mariners, monks and merchandise between ancient eastern parts of India and regions of Southeast Asia which finds its common signature in the quotidian cultural patterns and behaviour of people across the Bay of Bengal. The tie-dye textile, rice and coconut-based cuisine of our region and Java, Balinese dance and Odissi dance are some living examples of this age-old civilizational connection. In recent years, hinterlands and littoral areas have assumed a new salience in the world of connectivity. There has been a great degree of emphasis on bolstering both the internal riverine and the external ocean-based connectivity to help develop eastern regions of India and pitchfork it as the hub of a larger Asian construct beaming with connectivity, culture and camaraderie. The vision of 'Purvodaya' focused on building internal resilience and robust infrastructure blends well with that of promoting India as the anchor of Asia and as the net security provider- both of which are in line with our vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth of All in the Region). Backed by right interventions, states like Odisha can re-emerge and helm regional supply chain systems and thereby drive India's economy towards a USD 25-27 trillion economy during the Amrit Kaal.

On the occasion of the Boita Bandana/ Bali Yatra Festival, which holds significance due to its connection with Odisha's illustrious maritime history, The Energy Forum (TEF) India plans to host a maritime connectivity dialogue in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. This event aims to delve not only into the historical aspects of maritime civilizational linkages but also to uncover the latent possibilities presented by the eastern seaboard including Odisha's coastline and port cities in the realm of maritime trade. Connectivity shall be the central theme of the dialogue and draw on merchandise promotion, port and hinterland connectivity and most importantly lessons from our shared heritage and identities to promote an ethos of exchange and prosperity linking the eastern littoral of India, regions of Bay of Bengal littoral and Southeast Asia.