Week 8

Mary Crawford

There are few countries that have come from being considered a “developing” nation to a completely developed and economically booming country. In India’s Rise in Africa, it becomes clear that despite being a country abused, colonized and poverty-sticken, they have begun “paying it forward” and providing aid to the African continent. However, like most countries, there seems to be a hidden agenda with a lot of the help offered. Unfortunately it seems as if India is trying to catch up to the other wealthily nations on the international platform by abusing the unused resources and cheap labour of Africa rather than working in partnership to build a stable economy in the same way they did for themselves. This article seemed to pull many parallels with the topic from last week, again, a relationship with a newly developed country such as China, using African resources for their benefit. It is interesting that a country who is still dealing with a great deal of inequality and poverty within its own boarders is so quick to make the transition from recipient of aid to giver of aid. It is easy to question their motives but when it comes down to the support they offer, the money goes into the right hands rather than risking it to a corrupt government. Despite this positive spin on India’s investment in Africa, their motives become clear when analyzing the the fight for oil in Sudan between China and India. Luke Patey breaks down this on-going battle in his article, Fragile Fortunes: India’s Oil Venture into War-Torn Sudan. The idea is that India will support the UN soldiers to ensure peace and yet, Sudan remains in shambles and war-torn and India is taking all their oil. India remains in Sudan despite other countries being forced out by the violence. This has caused a rift in the relationship India has with China. Rather than supporting one another as they are both nations finally taking part in the world’s economy, they are fighting over the resources of another country. Both articles force the reader to see both the pros and cons of the situation at hand. India has finally become an actor with agency in the international community but have taken on some of the negative ways of other power houses such as the United States. Despite being a country that was considered part of the “third world”, India has joined the group of countries sucking Africa dry of its resources and taking advantage of its vulnerable state.

Question: Should India step back from the situation in Sudan or is there work preventing further conflict?