Falsch gesagt Anna Baerbock! Why German foreign minister is irresponsible in seeing UN role in Kashmir

By: Gurjit Singh

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. AFP

Remarks by German Foreign Minister Anna Baerbock during the visit of Pakistani foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto to Berlin on Jammu and Kashmir have riled Indian opinion. There is consternation in India that Germany, among India’s best friends in Europe and where Prime Minister Modi had a very successful visit in May and for the G7 in June, is taking a difficult position. Baerbock calling for a UN role in Jammu and Kashmir and claiming a ‘role and responsibility’ for itself seemed like reading from a Pakistani playbook.

Though Baerbock added references to the ceasefire holding since last year, and the need for bilateral political dialogue, the unhappiness with her resonating to the Pakistani position is immense. Recent pronouncements by the US Mission referring to POK as ‘Azad Kashmir’ annoyed Delhi who wonders if there is a coordinated revision by otherwise friendly countries on the Jammu and Kashmir issue. The Germans deny this.

The MEA and the German interlocutors undertook quiet diplomacy on this issue trying not to let it blow up while conveying their unhappiness at references which are beyond extant German policy.

The Germans seem slightly surprised. Since their foreign minister said much the same thing during her visit to Islamabad in June without any protest from India, they wonder why the protest now. In June, India perhaps did not protest so that the forthcoming Modi-Scholz meeting at G7 would not be rocked. Delhi assumed that it was a one-off remark in Islamabad and would perhaps not be repeated since it is not normal German policy to talk about UN resolutions with regard to Jammu and Kashmir.

The Germans are at pains to say that there is no change in policy but ignore the fact that if the same thing is said twice within a few months, it cannot be seen as an aberration. India sees it as deviation from German stated policy. There are suggestions that the German Foreign Ministry rather than the Chancellery, are riled by India’s independent position on Russia and terming the Ukraine crisis as the ‘war in Europe’ rather than Russian aggression. It is suggested that Germany, which has its own ambivalence towards China, would like a clear Indian position on China because they see India as threatened by China, but in the UN, India does not take a critical position on Xinjiang.

However, this sounds like sophistry. If Germany cannot understand parts of evolving Indian policy, they cannot justify their deviation from German policy on Jammu and Kashmir in the manner that they have now done.

Within Germany, Baerbock’s response was largely ignored, and many interlocutors were unaware that a ripple had been caused. However, within India, Jammu and Kashmir is an emotive issue. The German Foreign Ministry seems to have lost track of that.

Baerbock is dealing with the fallout of the Afghanistan crisis where the German’s too were left in the lurch by a hasty US pullout. A number of German affiliated people were stranded in Afghanistan. Operations to extract them require increasing help of Pakistan. The third operation is stalled. This is mainly because of Afghanistan’s internal issues. Pakistan is making the most of that requirement and its flood situation for which €60 million is provided by Germany. Germany increased its staff in Islamabad to hasten departure of evacuated Afghans and Pakistanis awaiting visas.

Secondly, there is a German Bundestag investigation into how Germany handled the evacuation of its embassy and associates. The German Foreign Ministry is facing this. Belated activism on this issue, therefore, by the German Foreign Ministry vis a vis Pakistan is to assuage their domestic problem with their own parliament.

In the mind of the German Foreign Ministry, they have put Pakistan and India in separate boxes and are letting the Chancellery lead the India project with a large and diversified engagement whereas Pakistan is in the lap of the foreign ministry. The problem is that they have not understood how Pakistan has issues with India and would like to trap Germany into taking public positions in their favour.

The Germans were evidently ill-prepared for Bhutto raising the Jammu and Kashmir issue at the press conference. Baerbock looked discomfited when the spoke of Jammu and Kashmir and looked at her notes. Instead of sticking to the bilateral agenda, she echoed about the UN, as if the Pakistani’s need to be assuaged on this. It appears that the German MFA is not entirely clear on how the UN resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir actually have lost relevance because of Pakistani refusal to vacate the territories that they had invaded.

A question on German position on Jammu and Kashmir from a supposedly Pakistani journalist was incoherent and Baerbock looked perplexed. Bhutto explained the question in his own way. Instead of relying on her brief and speaking only about the bilateral ceasefire obtaining in Jammu and Kashmir and the Germans desire for a resumption of political dialogue, Baerbock started talking about the ‘role and responsibility’ of Germany in the world to maintain peace and this included Ukraine and Kashmir! This response visibly lacked confidence. She went on to speak about the UN resolutions which she had just heard Bhutto mention. There was no mention of terrorism which needed to be curbed. The emphasis on the bilateral was muted. Did the Germans believe that the reference to the UN resolutions was not protested by India in June and they would get away with it?

The part on the ‘role and responsibility; of Germany seemed like a remark which Baerbock created of her vision of how Germany would deal with the world where Germany is losing its autonomy.

Privately German interlocutors mope that Baerbock was ill briefed and did not fully rely on her notes, and ad-libbed, much to their own dismay. They admit that not mentioning terrorism was an omission. It seems that this is typical doublespeak, where you say one thing in Berlin and another in Delhi and hope Islamabad is satisfied.

Evidently, Baerbock was playing to her own script, which was to wean Pakistan towards Germany, so that the Bundestag investigation into the Afghanistan pull out would not tar the German Foreign Ministry harshly. It appears that Baerbock lacked a geostrategic briefing that India was a neighbour and German policy towards it was steady, which comments on Jammu and Kashmir would wobble.

The divide between the coalition partners in Germany is palpable. The SPD lead chancellery continues to work for relationships beyond the USA, despite pressures on them after the Ukraine crisis. In this India and Japan play a crucial role.

The Greens-led foreign ministry is more concerned with defending its turf and criticising countries that do not meet its domestic standards like China. The chancellor has spoken about there being no preferred form of democracy. The Greens have a view of what a democracy should be. They train their sights on China. The chancellery wants a slower disengagement with China for their economic requirements and meanwhile build relations with India and Japan. There is a cleavage between the Greens and the SPD on China and it is showing up with regard to India as well. Baerbock was not a major player in crafting the renewed partnership with India under Scholz. Therefore, perhaps, her lack of attention to detail while making statements which impinge on India.

Further, they don’t see the contradiction in their desire for support to democracies and their blatant support to an undemocratic regime like Pakistan. The terrorism angle is ignored in this selective amnesia by the Greens. They intend to take up human rights issues with India strongly through the India-EU human rights dialogue. The differences over Ukraine will not go away.

While talking to a German interlocutor a few days ago, I had asked, when will the Greens start biting India? I have consistently maintained in my writings, that the young Greens in the German coalition now are the biggest challenge to Germany’s India policy. I was assured that the Greens are training their guns on China and India is not in their sights. Unfortunately, not being in their sights also means not in their minds.

Has India reacted adequately? Since Jammu and Kashmir is a sensitive issue for India, the new German coalition needs to be told of the red lines and deal with the fallout quietly. Their familiarity with Indian issues cannot be taken for granted. Indian opinion makers think that Germany needs to be ticked off publicly lest it become part of the resurgent US-led Pakistan approach which will further damage ties with India.

Germans must read Indian opinion carefully and not derail the diversified relationship with India. To assuage India, they are quietly blaming their minister. However, it is time for India to firmly convey its position and place it within the Indo-Pacific cooperation. India should extract greater understanding and support for Indian objectives in the Indo-Pacific, where the partnership can grow further in a focused manner.

The writer is a former Ambassador to Germany, Indonesia & ASEAN, Ethiopia & the African Union. Views expressed are personal.