Global Watch | Only Christianity has got the global voice, other religions are voiceless, says top Jain monk

Jainacharya Yugbhushansuri shares his deep insights on the emerging global order and what does it imply for India.

Jainacharya Yugbhushansuri is an exceptional monk. He is the 79th successor to Tirthankar Mahavir in the lineage of Sudharma Swami. Carrying forward the tradition of Jain monks, he doesn’t use an electronic gadget, walks on foot only along with his disciples traversing hundreds of kilometres to reach from one place to another. And yet he has an exceptional knowledge of international relations and global trends. Recently, this author met Jainacharya Yugbhushansuri in Ahmedabad where over a long conversation he shared his deep insights regarding the emerging global order and what it implies for India. Here are the excerpts from his detailed comments on various issues:

On new global order

Before World War II, the world was multi-polar but after 1945, it became bipolar and post the collapse of the erstwhile USSR, it became unipolar serving the interests of the West. Now again we are moving towards a multi-polar world. This process had begun in the early 1970s when the US under the guidance of Henry Kissinger started promoting China which led to its rise on the global scene. Even former US President Donald Trump accepted the failure and short-sightedness of the US foreign policy in this regard. The United States supported China and it boomeranged. Now China is an Asian giant. But in this new global emerging order, India will surely be a major power, and no one would be able to ignore India. Yet to supersede China, long distance is to be surpassed.

In this context, it must be said that the Modi government has done excellent work on foreign policy. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have done great work under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when it comes to the emergence of India on the global stage. In fact, during my meeting with Modi, I had told him that his predecessors have done excellent work in Vajpayee era on foreign policy. The current government is also doing the same and India has strongly established its security. Also, the same should be done when it comes to religious fields as well.

On role of religions

Today, the scenario is such that when it comes to the role of religions, only Christianity has the voice. The other religions are voiceless on the global stage. How can they contribute if their voices are not heard? Today, only Christianity enjoys an observer seat in the UN. The global community must understand that we need to find a viable solution to this challenge. Also, there is an urgent need to bring reforms in the multilateral organisations and global platforms to bring in voices of all religions to help in conflict resolution and bring in global peace. Just like Christianity, all major religions should get an observer seat in the UN and that should be on par treatment. Global community has to think and understand why they are excluding other religions. Spiritual voices who promote conflict resolution should get space on global platforms such as the United Nations. These opportunities should be institutionalised.

On China

It is important to see who would have the capability to challenge China in the future. At present, only the United States seems to have the capability to challenge China. But with the power of the US declining and any sudden plunge of its power will make China unchallengeable. It remains to be seen who would be able to challenge and check China. China can also break by internal implosion which can happen if there is a coup. China’s imperialist designs are clear. It has already taken Hong Kong, subjugated Tibet and is now eyeing Taiwan. If China takes Taiwan, it would be a major step in its imperialist quest which it has been promoting in the garb of ‘One China’ policy.

On Islamic world

The Islamic world has no unity, and it is fragmented. There are several challenges for the Islamic world such as Shia-Sunni conflict. Then we are also witnessing a significant shift in the policies of countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar being negotiators in global issues. Post Iran-Iraq war, significant changes have taken place. It shows that the Islamic world is also undergoing a change. They have realised who is their real common enemy. Incidentally, India has been able to forge the best relations with them as compared to any other phase in the past. The credit for this goes to the Modi government’s foreign policy and diplomacy.

On Russia-Ukraine war

Partly it is the creation of the West as it didn’t give Russia its due space in the fraternity of nations in the post-cold war era. Although in the cold war era bipolar world, both were equal and in some cases Soviets had more nuclear weapons still their status was kept inferior by the west, treated them as an inferior and then fragmented them. Amongst the five major nuclear powers of the world, the US is the only country that has enjoyed prerogatives to keep some of its nuclear warheads outside its border also. Now Russia is also following the same path. The US pushed NATO up to the doors of Russians. On the other hand, Putin was KGB chief and has witnessed first-hand the West’s manipulation to ensure disintegration of the USSR, Warsaw Pact and the entire second world. And post-USSR, the way Russia has been treated would be unacceptable for someone like Putin. The root cause of the Russia-Ukraine conflict lies somewhere in the developments that took place during the Cold War. The more the delay in negotiations, the longer the problem will persist.

On terrorism

It’s Uncle Sam who has created terrorism in the world. This was done to counter Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan. But then it came back to bite the West. Post 9/11, the West started looking at terrorism as a real threat as it was hurting them. It wasn’t any threat till it was hurting other nations like India. However, the West will only have a problem with terrorism till they are getting affected by it. If they feel safe, they will look the other way as if terrorism doesn’t exist. To end terrorism, you need a global effort. That effort is missing and that is largely due to the dual policies of the west. Look at Pakistan, it was a hub of terrorism, but it survived only because of the support from the western world. It is worth noting that due to their vested interest, till date the words terror, terrorist is not clearly defined. We need a global effort to eradicate terrorism in its entirety and continue to do the same.

On global conflicts

The root cause of conflicts across the globe are exploitation, injustice, and oppression. This has led to violence across the regions in the world. India’s policy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ can provide a permanent solution to these conflicts. In the past, when India dominated the world in terms of trade and having 35 per cent share of the world GDP, all this was done without any exploitation or conflict. India’s soft power played an important role in this regard. Now India is taking up that path again. Even though we have limited resources as compared to many other countries and a much larger population than them, we have done quite well in terms of development. We never exploited anyone. We have 1/9^th of the land mass as that of the US, still we are a highly developing country without exploiting anyone. But the West progressed by exploiting others and that has resulted in a world full of conflicts.

On rise of India

India is fast emerging on the global stage as a leader of the South as ‘Global South’. The world is ready to listen to India. It wasn’t possible in the earlier era. But now the Modi government has made the best use of the prevailing circumstances ensuring that they work in favour of India. India’s say/voice has increased which wasn’t possible even in Nehru’s era. Now there are many trouble spots across the world such as North Korea-South Korea, India-Pakistan, India-China, Turkey-Iran, Israel-Palestine etc. New conflict zones are adding up to the already existing ones. At the end of the day, it is India which holds a beacon of hope for the rest of the world as despite suffering at the hand of invaders for around a thousand years, India didn’t change its temperament that believes in co-existence of all preserving its culture and religion