New Delhi, Dec 26
The taste of the pudding is in the eating- the statement finds resonance in India’s foreign policy road map traversed in circa 2019.
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| Discovering Solar Eclipse on Dec 26, 2019 |
If winning 'awards' from new friends and strengthening ties with old ones is a criterion, the Modi government has achieved a milestone, but there are hiccups as well. The abrogation of Article 370 made international headlines irking stakeholders at various levels, but the fact of the matter is Kashmir issue showcased India’s strength as an emerging nation with new role globally.
There were no sanctions or boycotts by other nations and everyone seemed to understand India’s position that Kashmir remains a bilateral dispute with Pakistan and that the special Article was only a 'temporary phenomenon'.
True, overseas too as at home - a message has gone that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dreams are bigger and bolder. But have there been concrete actions too?
Last few years and also in 2019, there has been a right aura of confidence - declaring the arrival of a bolder and stronger India but there have been words of wisdom on economic and diplomatic front - that Prime Minister needs to display less of his pro-Hindutva nationalist image and show more of his reformist character.
In short, Mr Modi has won highest civilian awards from South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates and Russia; and he also strengthened bonds with France and the US and also handled China ‘aptly’.
New Delhi might have succeeded in cornering Pakistan in more ways than one and so far even the strong chain of violent protest against Citizenship Amendment Act remains 'internal and domestic' matter of India.
So far, the United States, France and Russia – are three big players – who have said such agitation is strictly internal matter of India. But challenges remain; Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has defied the pragmatic and internationally accepted logic.
He has spoken out against the CAA more than once and the Indian foreign policy engine room had to summon a senior Malaysian diplomat in Delhi and advice that his country ought to respect the importance of ‘India-Malaysia’ bilateral ties.
There is another issue that is more serious. Even most ardent admirers of Indian foreign policy and the Modi government will have to admit that the Indian economy now provides one of the most serious causes for concern.
Growth rates have fallen from a peak of 9.3 per cent in 2016 - under PM Modi - to 4.5 per cent in the last quarter.
The RBI has slashed interest rates but that has not yet led to a better investment climate.
Thus, Modi detractors say - without sweeping economics and administrative reforms, the government itself will remain hamstrung.
However, officials in MEA say the economic diplomacy has today emerged a core component of foreign policy.
Economic diplomacy is the toast of the town in the new era and thus, Indian diplomats often are found talking about Skills India, Make in India, Digital India, and Smart City.
The MEA officials have already worked with ONGC in Brazil to secure a 10 per cent share in BC-10, and helped Bharat Petroleum.
Some of these economic agenda of Indian foreign policy were reflected in BJP’s manifesto for 2019 polls as well.''The rise of India is the new reality and we shall play a major role in shaping global agenda in the 21st century,'' says BJP’s Sankalp Patra.
The same spirit was echoed by Late Arun Jaitley, who said, ''To make India a land of opportunities, India cannot experiment with adventurism of failed ideas''.
Of course in political sense, the BJP leaders say in 2019 elections, India voted overwhelmingly for a Prime Minister who pushed for Yoga, soft power but dealt with firm hands dealing with Pakistan even when Wing Commander Abhinandan was in their captivity.
Thus it is not without good reason that there came an official circular that states- ''India’s foreign policy is guided by the objectives of enhancing national security, promoting and facilitating India’s economic transformation''.
The Government of India, for instance, provides lines of credit to partner countries – 10 billion US Dollar for Africa, 4.5 billion USD in Bangladesh, 0.5 billion for Vietnam. A corpus of Rs 500 crore has been allocated for creating manufacturing hubs in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
On the US front, ties between India and the Trump administration have improved remarkably with major convergence of views on many issues.
Notably, in 2017 itself, former US Secretary of State had declared that India and the US were "two bookends of stability - on either side of the globe''. This spirit continues.
Peter Lavoy, a former senior official in Obama administration, had said - "I have studied India for 30 years, when its foreign policy was largely hesitant, reactive and ineffectual. My takeaway from Dr S Jaishankar is that India now has a firm grasp of its interests around the world and an assertive, self-confident and purposeful strategy to advance them".
In fact, talking about Indian foreign policy and circa 2019, it is worth mentioning that Dr Jaishankar is the new Foreign Minister – PM Modi has experimented with after Sushma Swaraj, no deceased, declined to contest 2019 polls on health ground.
When Dr Jaishankar was allotted the assignment as a foreign minister of India – it became clearer that Mr Modi was not content India playing a ‘simple balancer’ in the comity of nations.
The Prime Minister wants to make India a 'major global power' - Shreshta Bharat - and obviously the career diplomat-turned-Modi’s pick Jaishankar was ‘expected’ to realise his aim.
But there are key challenges. Despite attempts to emerge as a stronger nation - both economically and militarily - critics say India still relies on imported arms.
The fact of the matter is a large amount of Defence budget is spent only on salaries and pensions.
Importantly, many also raise eyebrows to ask - is New Delhi stuck up with its relationship with Pakistan.
But the other side argues it well that the people of India endorses hardliner stance from the Indian government against Pakistan. Therefore, when Prime Minister ordered hitting out at terror camps - first after Uri in 2016 and later Balakot last February, the Indian public had reasons to celebrate and cheer.
This was reflected in the mandate of 2019.
The focus of Indian foreign policy is now to navigate through turbulent period of tension with Pakistan, handle trade disputes with the US and also deal with situations in an era when Donald Trump is engaged in trade disputes with China and in nuke programme disputes with Iran.
External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar’s grip over American domestic landscape too has come in handy. Thus, in all what he has been doing and saying – Dr Jaishankar is depicting PM Modi’s vision of ‘New India’.
Sample this – "......we have a problem talking to Terroristan". In another instance, External Affairs Minister wrote in an article for an American newspaper - "Although the central government spent 10 times more on the average resident of the province (Jammu and Kashmir) than in the rest of the country, that investment did not show up on the ground".
In the ultimate analysis, speaking about Modi’s foreign policy, it ought to be imperative to underline that the Prime Minister has not disappointed in giving the much political direction to the Ministry of External Affairs especially given the backdrop that it was not expected of a provincial or state-level politician like him.
Ministry officials say even the usual refrain about the babudom – that India has a poor record of implementation does not seem to apply to his dispensation in foreign policy front.
It also goes in favour of Modi’s pro-Hindutva image is that he has unhesitatingly displayed his religiosity in the comity of nations without sounding defensive and any embarrassment.
ends
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