The Narendra Modi government has completed nine years in office as it enters its tenth year. In the overall tenure of the BJP government — the transformation of Indian Foreign Policy has stood out the most.
The Ministry of External Affairs is headed by the EAM Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, a career diplomat, in the Modi 2.0 government. Under the Narendra Modi government, India has sought to establish diplomatic relations on an equal footing with every country, either be it a developing nation or a superpower.
How Indian Foreign Policy change after 2014?
During the run-up to 2014 polls, the then BJP PM Candidate (and now current PM) Narendra Modi raised calls for a strong foreign policy.
The promise of assertive diplomacy was seen as a counter to the passive and non-responsive foreign policy of the UPA government in its previous tenures. Many questioned the BJP and its Prime Ministerial candidate on Foreign policy front but few knew that even as the Gujarat CM, Narendra Modi made frequent visits to major Asian economies.
After the NDA government came into power — with a thumping majority in LokSabha — it readily shifted gears in diplomacy.
The Narendra Modi-led government evolved from the ‘Look East Policy’ to the ‘Act East Policy’ which sought to improve relations with neighbouring countries in South Asia, to engage the extended neighbourhood of Southeast Asia and the major global powers.
Connecting With South Asia
In a symbolic gesture, every state head of South-Asian countries were invited to the oath ceremony of Narendra Modi in 2014 and held bilateral discussions the other day.
Notably, Indian PM Narendra Modi paid his first foreign visit to Bhutan after he was invited by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay. The visit was also important to check the recent rise in relations between China and Bhutan.
The new Indian government was quick to recognize Bangladesh’s enormous geostrategic importance in India’s security paradigm. The then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj chose Dhaka for her first stand-alone foreign visit on June 26-27, 2014, where she met her counterpart Abul Hassan Mahmood and also called on Sheikh Hasina.
In his 2015 visit to Bangladesh, Indian PM Narendra Modi concluded as many as 22 agreements. India extended a $2 billion credit line to Bangladesh and pledged $5 billion in investments.
Similarly, India emphasised strengthening diplomatic ties with its neighbours such as Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The NDA government had also a challenge to shed the complacent image, for which the previous UPA government was mainly responsible. India has prioritised infrastructure projects in the neighbouring countries while aiding them during an hour of crisis, for example – how India was quick to help Nepal during the 2015 Earthquake or aiding Sri Lanka during the Economic Crisis last year.
Pakistan was an exception in this initiative, even though initially India attempted to better its relations with Pakistan. Under the Narendra Modi government, India developed a more aggressive and assertive diplomatic stance while dealing with matters related to Pakistan.
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After the Uri and Pulwama terror attacks, India not only responded with counter-military operations but also with strict diplomacy, aimed at alienating Pakistan globally. In the last 5 years, India has publicly denounced its neighbour for exporting terrorism in global forums such as the United Nations.
Countering China
In the last decade, China has aggressively increased its global influence, resulting in territorial issues with many countries.
Under its String of Pearls policy, China has strengthened relations with major Asian powers, investing billions and establishing critical infrastructure projects. Through its Belt and Road Initiative, China plans to enhance regional connectivity although several countries, including India, have objected to the project.
Indian analysts often have accused China of encircling its territories by establishing naval bases such as Hambantota and Gwadar in Srilanka and Pakistan, respectively.
After 2014, the Indian government has looked to counter China and its influence overseas. Against mighty China, India has stood firmly, either be it on the border during the Galwan clash or allying with like-minded nations such as the QUAD.
QUAD nations have played a major role in redefining the ‘Asia-Pacific’ as ‘Indo-Pacific’ to strengthen the trans-regional ties and deal more effectively with China’s string of pearls.
Balancing Between Superpowers
One of the highlights of Indian diplomacy has been its balancing between Russia and the US.
Since 2014, Indian PM Narendra Modi has made frequent visits to the West including several to the US — boosting the defence and trade ties. However, India has chosen to not let go of its ever-green partnership with Russia.
A fine example of the above-mentioned fact was when India purchased the Russian S-400 Air Defence System despite pressure from the West to prefer buying the US THAAD Missile defence. It is also important that despite, India buying the Russian equipment and arms, US waived India off from the CAATSA — sanctions aimed at countries dealing with adversaries of America.
Ukraine-Russia War
Since the beginning of the Ukraine-Russia War, countries around the globe have struggled diplomatically in dealing with the conflict.
Many nations, uninvolved directly in the conflict, were coerced by the Western alliance to criticise Moscow, for what it termed as “Russian Aggression”.
Right from the start, India assumed a responsible position while understanding both sides and promoting dialogue as a solution to the problem. However, when the war was affecting the entire global economy and disrupting supply chains, Indian PM Narendra Modi did not hesitate to criticise Russian President Vladimir Putin for the conflict.
India has abstained from voting or passing resolutions against Russia while providing humanitarian assistance and aid to Ukraine.
The Narendra Modi government has adopted the policy of ‘India first’, which saw the country importing a record amount of cheap Russian crude oil when the West had sanctioned Moscow to impact its war-waging capacity.
Leader of the Global South
In the last 9 years, India has always provided unconditional support to anyone — be it providing relief during a calamity or providing Covid vaccines — especially countries in Global South.
The Hindu philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam oozes out from the Indian foreign policy which seemingly attracts the Global South. Unlike China or America, India does not want oil or virtually take over the country with debt but instead provides opportunities to grow and develop hand-to-hand.
An example of this was seen in a recent visit by PM Narendra Modi to Papua New Guinea when PM James Marape not only touched the former’s feet to take blessings but also declared him as the leader of Global South on the next day.
Conclusion
As the BJP government enters the tenth year of its tenure, it can proudly flaunt the credentials of diplomacy. It would not be an overstatement that since Independence, the Indian foreign policy has been at its best, dynamic and multilateral.
Through its diplomacy, the present government has not only won praise in the world but also generated a sense of pride among Indians.
It’s also ironic considering that Foreign policy was assumed to be one of the weakest point of PM Narendra Modi before 2014, which now has turned out to be the strongest of his premiership.
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