During the Cold War years, India and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) were not only destined to organize their own political systems, but to position themselves internationally. In the reduced scope of power and dissidence permitted by the bipolarity of the Cold War, India and LAC found ways to meet: from the friendship between intellectuals such as Gabriela Mistral and Sri Aurobindo, and the affinity between Octavio Paz and Mahatmi Gandhi, to the South-South connection between the regions, whose daily political life was experienced in discussions and votes taken at the UN.

According to Cesar Ross, the author of the article published in Revista Brasileira de Relações Internacionais (RBPI, vol.56, 2/2013), there are three main reasons to research the relations between India and LAC during that period: first, because it constitutes a temporal unit of analysis with limited margins (1947-1989) and with well-defined epistemological meaning; second, because despite India and LAC´s marginal role in the academic discussion regarding the Cold War, these regions were influenced by the world political structure, albeit under a new system, that of the non-aligned; and third, because in this period the political ties that distinguish the current relationship between India and LAC were established. Through the reconstruction and analysis of the electoral conduct of India and LAC in the UN, as well as by the analysis of bilateral visits between the two, the author proposes a general characterization of the bilateral policies during the period of the Cold War with the intent of identifying the key explanatory factors of the process. The article argues that the key to the relationship between India and LAC was based in the political nature of this liaison: It was a “uni-multilateral” relationship, centered in India, where LAC countries operated as a group of autonomous entities (an “island chain” structure), and not as a unit of a supranational character with unified international conduct (an island structure). As we will see, faced with uniform and consistent Indian policies, LAC had national policies which make it impossible to discuss a regional policy towards India. Nevertheless, LAC countries tended to support India in global matters not as an articulate block of countries, but as a heterogeneous group of States with very diverse foreign policies and ideological visions.

The author argues that, regardless of the fact that it is possible to uncover very old ties through commercial contacts and the presence of immigrants, it was not until de-colonization that India and LAC began to develop a formal and fluid relationship. It was in this period that the liaison between LAC and India acquired a relevant potential and size for the emerging political and economic projects whose implementation was sought in Asia and LAC. On the one hand, in 1974 India began establishing its posture as non-aligned, rejecting the tactics of “force” and “pragmatism”, instead choosing the path of “reflection”. In theoretical international relations terminology, India opted for that of idealism, choosing a foreign policy based on its own cultural identity, one which Indira Gandhi continued following the death of Nehru. On the other hand, the political polarization in LAC between Capitalism and Socialism that had been maintained in the formal institutional setting reached its end with the Cuban Revolution (1959). In this context, both the forces of the left and those who identified themselves with the political center tended to coincide with the international vision that non-aligned countries had become configured with.

The key issues of international politics in the UN regarding the subjects of the analysis, is where the main paradox of this liaison is observed: India’s foreign policies towards LAC corresponded asymmetrically with respect to the MEA´s prioritization of the countries in the region. According to its principles, India gave strong support to LAC countries which saw their autonomy, independence and democracy threatened. This assured India’s frequent opposition to US policies in the region.

The article also argues that even relations of an economic nature were essentially political in nature as well, as during the Cold War the political-ideological element shaded all aspects of international relations. Personal meetings between representatives of the States (diplomats and representatives of the central government) were key moments during which international ties were built and rebuilt, relegating documentation recorded from the meetings to a complementary level, and, to a very secondary one, the technological options available for long-distance communication. In the case of relations between India and LAC, bilateral visits became a privileged instance for the articulation of the interests of very diverse actors, such as was constituted in an indicator of the specific emphasis of the relationship

The article concludes that a characterization of the relations between the two regions can be made with greater certainty in four points. First, India’s foreign policy towards LAC corresponded asymmetrically according to the MEA´s prioritization of the countries in the region. Similarly, the wealthiest, most powerful countries and those prioritized by India’s foreign policy were the ones that least adhered to India’s international agenda. Second, India gave decisive support to the LAC countries which were threatened in their essential condition as autonomous, independent and democratic countries. In this sense, adhesion to India on these issues was frequently in opposition to US policy in the region. Third, there is an interspersed territorial distribution of Indian representative visits to LAC (which were concentrated in Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru) that show an erratic regularity of relations, difficult to correlate with the agendas of the countries involved and/or with the world political and economic dynamic. Nevertheless, it is possible to observe two general stages in these relations: between 1952 and 1967, in which the formation of relations, contacts were limited, and—after Indira Gandhi’s visit to LAC—in which there was much greater activity and an attempt to amplify and deepen relations, albeit a crisis cycle started in 1984. Fourth, Fourth, despite the fact that India aligned its foreign policy with the prioritization of its economic interests, the result of the partnership arising from the relationship between India and LAC was guided by ideological considerations and by political interests (in that order), demonstrating an emphasis differing from that proposed in official discourse.

Leia o artigo:

ROSS, Cesar. India, Latin America, and the Caribbean during the Cold War. Rev. bras. polít. int.[online]. 2013, vol.56, n.2, pp. 23-44. Available from: <http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-73292013000200002&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en&gt; ISSN 0034-7329. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-73292013000200002.