Skip to main content

Will mission moon help India leverage its diplomacy as an influential power-player?

By Sudhanshu Tripathi* 

The successful moon landing has made the incredible possible for India. The country has indeed jumped towards a higher orbit of influence and power among global community of sovereign nations. While this rare achievement will in likelihood transform into the country’s increasing cooperation with other space-exploring national agencies in the world, it shall also result into massive economic gains with considerable socio-political prestige of India accompanied by robust boost to the likely prospects of its likely emerging new carved-out of Moon Diplomacy.
Despite being a scientific and technological success in the field of space exploration, the totality of results to calculate in terms of addition to national power for the country is perhaps beyond one’s general perception. Notwithstanding the positive fruitful gains, the accomplishment may possibly witness few adverse consequences due to long-recurring hostile attitudes maintained by China and Pakistan against India. The country had already suffered such adverse consequences by means of several harsh sanctions by the western states led by the US, when it successfully conducted its first nuclear explosion on 18th May 1974 for peaceful purposes.
This spectacular achievement by the country may possibly lead to few unexpected and unpalatable after-effects due to stiff power rivalry in the world as international arena is still perhaps the most unregulated and free-for-all phenomenon where naked power rules the roost, that an illustrious realist scholar of the previous century Hans Morgenthau had sketched in his classic work Power among Nations. The same spirit has further been carried by another contemporary realist scholar John Mearsheimer who has pointed at those structures which inevitably causes tensions between different power players in the world.
As India has now become an influential power-player among few top level power players like the US, Russia and China, it essentially needs to leverage its diplomacy so as to carry on its sincere efforts uninterrupted to further explore the unfathomed areas of knowledge in the overall interest of humanity, either in space or below the surface of the earth or deep inside oceans. In fact, these are the probable areas where humanity can find solace in times to come when rising temperatures, melting glaciers leading to submerging of island-nations, increasing environment pollution, soil erosion, scarcity of water and food resources accompanied by several natural disasters viz. earth quake, heavy downpour, famine and several man-made others will finally turn the earth inhospitable for the human beings.
Hence the ongoing endeavour in search of future hospitable destinations or the required living preconditions for sustenance of the mankind like water or oxygen or fertile soil to name a few must be collectively pursued so that no competitive rivalry may stall such noble pursuit in the common welfare of all. It is here that India can mitigate the possible suspicions among other competing nations through its aforesaid moon diplomacy for forging better friendly and cordial relations by evolving better cooperative endeavours not only in the field of space exploration but also in other fields as above mentioned. This is very much required today by New Delhi as the same mission by a major global power Russia through its spacecraft Luna-25 had unfortunately failed just around three days ago.
As Sino-India tensions and continuing standoff on the international borders between the two asymmetric powers continue to be far away from amicable resolution despite several rounds of bilateral talks at various levels besides hostile relations with Pakistan consistently supporting cross-border terror into India, the so-carved out diplomacy may accrue for New Delhi enough clout and power that may help India balance the fast-risen aggressive, assertion-oriented and imperialist power-profile of China including Pakistan not only in the East but also in all over the world. Hence the likely upcoming deterrent power of India through the moon diplomacy can considerably help boost its image vis-à-vis Beijing and Islamabad both. And that will indeed benefit the global humanity. This can happen as nothing is beyond human endeavour.
---
Dept. Political Science, MDPG College, Pratapagarh (UP)

Comments

TRENDING

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Where’s the urgency for the 2,000 MW Sharavati PSP in Western Ghats?

By Shankar Sharma*  A recent news article has raised credible concerns about the techno-economic clearance granted by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) for a large Pumped Storage Project (PSP) located within a protected area in the dense Western Ghats of Karnataka. The article , titled "Where is the hurry for the 2,000 MW Sharavati PSP in Western Ghats?", questions the rationale behind this fast-tracked approval for such a massive project in an ecologically sensitive zone.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad*  The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.

Structural retrogression? Steady rise in share of self-employment in agriculture 2017-18 to 2023-24

By Ishwar Awasthi, Puneet Kumar Shrivastav*  The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) launched the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in April 2017 to provide timely labour force data. The 2023-24 edition, released on 23rd September 2024, is the 7th round of the series and the fastest survey conducted, with data collected between July 2023 and June 2024. Key labour market indicators analysed include the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR), which highlight trends crucial to understanding labour market sustainability and economic growth. 

Venugopal's book 'explores' genesis, evolution of Andhra Naxalism

By Harsh Thakor*  N. Venugopal has been one of the most vocal critics of the neo-fascist forces of Hindutva and Brahmanism, as well as the encroachment of globalization and liberalization over the last few decades. With sharp insight, Venugopal has produced comprehensive writings on social movements, drawing from his experience as a participant in student, literary, and broader social movements. 

Authorities' shrewd caveat? NREGA payment 'subject to funds availability': Barmer women protest

By Bharat Dogra*  India is among very few developing countries to have a rural employment guarantee scheme. Apart from providing employment during the lean farm work season, this scheme can make a big contribution to important needs like water and soil conservation. Workers can get employment within or very near to their village on the kind of work which improves the sustainable development prospects of their village.

'Failing to grasp' his immense pain, would GN Saibaba's death haunt judiciary?

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The death of Prof. G.N. Saibaba in Hyderabad should haunt our judiciary, which failed to grasp the immense pain he endured. A person with 90% disability, yet steadfast in his convictions, he was unjustly labeled as one of India’s most ‘wanted’ individuals by the state, a characterization upheld by the judiciary. In a democracy, diverse opinions should be respected, and as long as we uphold constitutional values and democratic dissent, these differences can strengthen us.

94.1% of households in mineral rich Keonjhar live below poverty line, 58.4% reside in mud houses

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  Keonjhar district in Odisha, rich in mineral resources, plays a significant role in the state's revenue generation. The region boasts extensive reserves of iron ore, chromite, limestone, dolomite, nickel, and granite. According to District Mineral Foundation (DMF) reports, Keonjhar contains an estimated 2,555 million tonnes of iron ore. At the current extraction rate of 55 million tonnes annually, these reserves could last 60 years. However, if the extraction increases to 140 million tonnes per year, they could be depleted within just 23 years.