New Delhi: India is entering a moment of extraordinary opportunities that will enhance its global standing and improve its diplomatic and geopolitical links, foreign policy expert Kishore Mahbubani said.
"Since we cannot tell the future, we can never tell how long this moment will last. Hence, India should seize this moment while it can," said Mahbubani, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.
Delivering the K. Subrahmanyam memorial lecture for 2014 at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), he said several powers including the U.S., Japan and Russia were concerned about the rise of China.
"As a result, these countries are looking for countries to balance China. As they look around China's neighbourhood, several have come to the conclusion that India is the best candidate to provide such a balance. This is why, for example, both the U.S. and Japan have begun courting India," he said.
The India-U.S. nuclear deal was a geopolitical gift America gave to draw India to its side, he said.
He said India should respond to this new courtship by being "cunning".
"It should welcome the courtship and take advantage of all the offers that come. Hence, it should welcome Japan's proposals for closer trade and investment links. Similarly, it should welcome a trade agreement with the U.S., although this is unlikely to surface soon.
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