What the article is about:
- The article talks about India’s first formal engagement with the Brussels based North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), and its importance in changing world order.
Relevance:
- GS2: Grouping and agreements involving India and/or Affecting India’s Interest.
- Prelims
Analysis:
- Government began a formal engagement with NATO in December 2019 after constructing a new domestic consensus.
NATO: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union.
Members: At present, NATO has 30 members. In 1949, there were 12 founding members of the Alliance: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States. The other member countries are: Greece and Türkiye (1952), Germany (1955), Spain (1982), the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (1999), Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia (2004), Albania and Croatia (2009), Montenegro (2017) and North Macedonia (2020).
Why renewing the dialogue with NATO has become more important:
Due to following reasons India’s engagement with NATO is important:
- The US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
- The return of Taliban to power.
- Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- War in the heart of Europe due to russia Ukraine crisis.
- The rise of assertive China.
- The Sino-Russian Alliance.
- Emergence of the Indo- Pacific.
- Meanwhile, as India rises as a large economy its geopolitical salience among the great powers is growing.
- India’s vulnerabilities have also risen on the border with china.
- conflict with Pakistan shows no signs of abating.
Conclusion:
- In changing world, India has adopted the strategy of Multi-alignment by deepening ties with US, building a partnership with Europe, holding onto the traditional partnership with Russia, and talking to china to resolve bilateral issues.
- Therefore, sustained engagement with NATO must be an increasingly important part of this self-assured strategy of multi-alignment
