India in the World: Neither Rich, Powerful, nor Principled

Abstract

War, one of the defining events for the post-Cold War order. India's confused response?which included a unilateral peace initiative to Baghdad?based on a faded image of itself as leader of the non aligned nations, succeeded in alienating both Baghdad and Washington without winning any friends. Being bracketed with Cuba and Yemen in a U.N. Security Council vote at war's end calling for Iraq's surrender was less than edifying. Five years later, India repeated the policy mistakes. Last September the U.N. General Assembly approved the text of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which India had campaigned against, by a vote of 158-3. Only Bhutan and Libya joined India in rejecting the treaty. The next month, the General As sembly voted to fill five nonpermanent seats on the Security Council. India and Japan keenly contested the Asian va cancy. What was expected to have been a close vote, perhaps requiring several bal lots, turned into a rout. Japan romped home, 142-40. The two defeats proved that, 50 years after independence, India is neither rich enough to bribe, powerful enough to bully, nor principled enough to inspire.