If India’s rivals have succeeded in anything, it’s in convincing the great power of the sub-continent that it should be content and consumed with its own regional problems.
But contentment is confinement.
India is poised to be a global power, and not just a great power. That requires a comprehensive approach to regions of concern, and beyond that, requires comprehensive policies towards all regions, not just traditional areas of influence.
It is hard to define India’s South Pacific policy, apart from a pretension of pre-occupation with the Fijians of Indian origin. This narrow focus has limited India’s ability to broadly inspire all the peoples of the region. Not only does it appear almost ‘race-based’, it also limits non Indo-Fijian people-to-people interactions. This has resulted in a narrow and inadequate knowledge between the people of India and those of the South Pacific.