Step by step, Modi designs a foreign policy
It is no wonder that India with 1.2 billion people is still performing much below its potential. This is in spite of a spike in economic growth rate and improvements in human resource indicators. The country seems to be still poor and suffers from an infrastructure deficit. India is viewed as an indolent giant and best left to its own devices. Yet India and its youth are tired of this perception and want its leaders to do something dramatic to change all that. In fact, Indians want their country to shine and punch above its weight. Instead, India resists its own rise. Its leaders have turned the country into its worst enemy.
Enter Narenda Modi into the Indian political scene in the middle of 2014. He is the country's prime minister with a charismatic sheen and a treasure chest of ideas. He is proving to be a game changer. In the six months he has been in power he has taken big steps to resuscitate India's economy and devise foreign policy options that would also ensure its military security.
Modi's foreign policy debut started with initiating normal relations with the US. India, since its independence over sixty years back, always had a chilly relationship with the US. But Modi has changed the dynamics. In these first six months in power he not only visited the US and met President Obama but has also invited the American president to visit New Delhi. Obama is expected to attend the Indian Republic Day celebration in January. The return visit would help take the India-US relationship to a higher level of engagement. US businessmen are likely to accompany the US president and take advantage of Modi's preference for pro- market economic policies.
Modi has also been pragmatic in promoting India's new relationships with her immediate neighbours like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. He has made it clear to all these countries that his foreign policy is not powered by any ideology. It has more to do with ideas which take into consideration the needs of each country. He has shunned mere reiteration of old doctrinaire. This has given a new spin on bilateral relationships with these countries. Thus, he is keen to sell his excess electricity generated in eastern states of India to meet Bangladesh's energy needs. Similarly, he wants to sell more Indian consumer goods to Nepal and Bhutan. In return, he wants to invest in generation of electricity by using their hydropower potential due to their geographical advantage.
Modi has engineered strong partnership with Japan. He wants to trade and avail of Japanese investment and technology which his country dearly needs. In return, he is willing to meet Japan's political and strategic requirements vis-a-vis China. With Pakistan, Modi faces major challenges. But he has not shied away and has evolved 'dynamic and innovative approaches to diplomacy and national defense.' His answer to Pakistan is to look east where India is able to join the economic dynamism of smaller neighbours there. Modi is increasingly putting emphasis on building close cooperation with these neighbours. He is sidelining Pakistan with the idea that giving too much attention to that country will not allow him to make much progress as a regional power in South Asia.
In pursuit of this foreign policy, Modi made official visits to Bhutan, Nepal and Japan within the first 100 days of his government. He then went to Myanmar, Australia and Fiji. His Foreign Minister Shushma Swaraj has made official visits to Dhaka, Thimpu, Katmandu, Nayipadaw, Singapore, Hanoi, Manama, Kabul, Dushanbe, New York and Washington DC, London, etc. As may be observed from the places which Modi and his foreign minister visited, it is clear that his foreign policy priorities were as follows. He first sought to improve relations with India's immediate neighbours. Next, he introduced the concept of para-diplomacy in India, where each state and cities had the liberty to forge special relations with countries of their interest. The final priority is to see that bilateral trade always dominates India's relations with all these countries. India will, however, develop additional strategic partnership with global powers like the US, China, Russia, Australia and Japan.
Modi has also decided that India should play an active role in various multilateral forums such as the United Nations, World Trade Organisation, G-20 leaders Summit, the BRIC Summit of emerging countries, among others. Modi showed interest in remaining engaged in many regional groupings like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Indian Ocean Rim Association, Saarc and BIMSTEC.
There is no doubt that Modi wants to see India play a significant role in making the 21st century an Asian century. In this task he has used 'fast track diplomacy.' So, over this short period in power, he has convinced many through deft acts that India remains a friendly power who will always act to benefit its friends. Its policies will not be used to bring harm to anyone in the region, at least in this part of the world.
Modi has several more years before his term ends. Through the foreign policy which he has evolved, he seeks to bring rich dividends to India as well to its immediate neighbours. This prospect seems to be attractive and has endeared Modi to the neighbours for the time being. But the question remains how well will the policies be implemented on the ground? The devil will be in the details.
The writer is a former Ambassador and a commentator on current matters.
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