Foreign policy of Narendra Modi
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The foreign policy of Narendra Modi concerns the policy initiatives made towards other states by the current Modi government after he assumed office as Prime Minister of India on 26 May 2014. The Ministry of External Affairs, headed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj (the first woman to hold the office since Indira Gandhi), is responsible for carrying out the foreign policy of India. Modi's foreign policy is currently focused on improving relations with neighbouring countries in South Asia,[1] engaging the extended neighbourhood in Southeast Asia and the major global powers. In pursuit of this, he has made official visits to Bhutan and Nepal and Japan within the first 100 days of his government followed by United States. Swaraj has also made official visits to Dhaka, Bangladesh, Kathmandu, Nepal, Naypidaw, Myanmar, Singapore, Hanoi, Vietnam, Manama, Bahrain, Kabul, Afghanistan, Dushanbe, Tajikistan, New York and Washington, D.C., United States.
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[hide]Background[edit]
While Chief Minister of Gujarat, and under sanction from Western states like the United States, Modi made several foreign trips to foster his business links with major Asian economic powers. This included meeting Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe twice in 2007 and 2012 and building a personal rapport.[2] He also reached out for investment deals with China[3] and Israel,[4] who sought to increase economic ties beyond defence and agriculture, according to outgoing Israeli Ambassador Alon Ushpiz.[5] He was widely appreciated for his endeavour to organise Vibrant Gujarat, a biannual international business summit, to welcome investment in his home state which also helped build a pro-development and business friendly image.[6]
2014 General election[edit]
Though Modi made no major foreign policy speeches during the general election campaign in 2014 except calling out China's potential aggression along the borderwith India [7] and making "illegal immigration" from Bangladesh an election issue specially during the later part of his campaign in eastern states like Assam and West Bengal.[8] He also asserted that Hindus outside the country would be able to seek asylum in India should they require it.[9] But time and again he had emphasized the fact the he (born in 1950) would going to be the first post-independence born Prime Minister therefore it would be natural to expect a shift in the world view from his predecessors. He also pledged to have a "strong" foreign policy, including engaging with China.[10] He had asked for External Affairs Ministry to focus more on trade deals instead of other geopolitical initiatives.[11]
Modi’s first foreign policy outlook were revealed during the run up for the Prime Ministerial candidature in his party in 2013 when he in a Network 18 program called 'Think India, dialogue forum' had outlined the following points.[12]
- Improving relations with immediate neighbours would be his priority as peace and tranquillity in South Asia is essential for realizing his development agenda.
- Significantly he pledged to introduce the concept of para diplomacy in India where each states and cities would have liberty to forge special relation with countries or federal states or even cities of their interest.
- Bilateral trade going to dominate the relations with most countries except few important global powers with which India shares a strategic partnership.
Modi further responded to the many congratulatory messages and phone calls from most world leaders that he received in the aftermath of his historic election victory.[13]
Inauguration[edit]
Main article: Swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi
Even before he formally took charge of office Modi, Prime Minister elect, had made his maiden foreign policy statement by inviting all the heads of state/heads of government of India's neighbours and doing so he had undone his criticism as being a hardliner. Modi's swearing-in ceremony featured nearly all the SAARC leaders along with Navin Ramgoolam of Mauritius who holds an observer status at the grouping. Guests list included Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai, Bhutan's Tshering Tobgay, Maldives' Abdulla Yameen, Nepal's Sushil Koirala, Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif, Sri Lanka's Mahinda Rajapaksa, Mauritius's Navin Ramgoolam. As Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was travelling, parliamentary Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury came instead. Significantly Lobsang Sangay, the Prime Minister of Tibetan Government-in-Exile, was also spotted seating in the spectators gallery.[14] The media reacted positively to this in response to their own criticism of his foreign policy.[15]
- Approach of P5 nations
Soon after the new govt took over the office important world leaders expressed their willingness to work with Modi govt to strengthen their relations with India as it provides them a big market. All 5 permanent member state of United Nations Security Council sent their envoy with to India within the first 100 days from inauguration which is significant given India's long standing bid to get a permanent membership at UNSC.
To take the early movers advantage China was first to send its envoy to India after Modi govt came into power, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited new Delhi on 8 June and held bilateral talks in with his counterpart and also called on PM Modi. In other reactions, China indicated a willingness to reach a final settlement over the contested border disputes.[16][17]
Russian Deputy Chairman visited India on 18–19 June 2014 to reach out the new govt led by Narendra Modi. Where the two sides discussed the cooperation in joint defence production which is one of Modi's top agenda. Later Modi met President Vladimir Putin in July on the sidelines of 6th BRICS summit in Brazil.[18]
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius made an official visit to India from 29 June to 2 July and held high level talks with both External Affairs Minister and Prime Minister. Strategic and defence cooperation was top on his agenda and he expressed hope of speedy completion of Dassault Rafale Jet deal as part of the much delayed Indian MMRCA project under the new govt.[19]
British Foreign Secretary William Hague visited India on 7–8 July. During his meeting with Modi he lobbied hard again for Eurofighter Typhoon as a last minute alternative for Dassault Rafale which is yet to be signed.[20]
Prior to his India trip U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry emphasized the importance of US-India in twenty first century and interestingly he borrowed "Sab-ka saath, Sab-ka vikaas" a Hindi slogan from Modi’s campaign meaning "together with all, development for all" (or simply, inclusive growth) and said America shared this goal and willing to work in full cooperation with the new govt to realize it. He arrived in New Delhi on 1 August and held bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart to made the groundwork ready for Modi’s upcoming USA visit and also bided a strong lobby to gain support from India for sanctions on Russia amidst the 2014 Ukraine crisis. Swaraj said in regards to the appeal: "There is no change in our policy. We think that foreign policy is in continuity. Foreign policy does not change with the change in the government."[21]
Fast-track Diplomacy[edit]
On completion of the first 100 days of Modi govt the External Affairs Ministry published a booklet called "Fast Track Diplomacy"[22] show-casing the achievement made in the foreign policy arena. In her first media interaction the minister Sushma Swaraj said the catchphrase for her tenure was "fast-track diplomacy" and said it had three faces - proactive, strong and sensitive.[23] Since taking office the External Affairs Minister held round-table meeting with all Indian heads of missions to the SAARC region, ASEAN region and Middle East separately as a follow up measure to carry forward the leads gained by high profile visits and exchanges.
Para Diplomacy[edit]
One of the innovative idea of Modi govt is the introduction of elements of para diplomacy in India’s foreign policy where each states and cities would be encouraged to forge special relation with countries or federal states of another country or even cities of their interest in order.[24]
During the upcoming visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping Town twinning agreement between Mumbai and Shanghai, Ahmedabad and Guangzhou and a similar 'sister states' agreement between Gujarat and Guangdong province of China will likely to be signed. Earlier Varanasi signed partnership agreement with Kyoto, Japan.
Relations within Asia[edit]
Further information: Asian foreign policy of Narendra Modi government
Even before becoming the Prime Minister Narendra Modi hinted that his foreign policy will actively focus on improving ties with India's immediate neighbours which is being termed as neighbourhood first policy in the media[25] and he started well by inviting all heads of state/heads of government of South Asian countries in his inauguration and on the second day on office he held bilateral talks with all of them individually which was dubbed as a "mini SAARC summit" by the media. Later during a launch event at ISRO he has asked Indian scientists to take the endeavour to develop a dedicated SAARC satellite[12] to share the fruits of the technology like tele-medicine, e-learning etc. with the people across South Asia to complement the currently operating Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme program in the region.
Relations with Americas[edit]
Brazil[edit]
Modi met the Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff on the sidelines of the 6th BRICS summit in Brasilia, Brazil, in July 2014. Describing Brazil as a key global partner for India, Modi noted that as two democracies and major emerging economies, India and Brazil not only had vast potential for bilateral cooperation, but also to strengthen each other in international forums and advance the interest of the developing world at large. President Rousseff emphasized the special place this relationship enjoyed in Brazil's foreign policy, because of the potential for bilateral cooperation and the international significance of their partnership. She congratulated Narendra Modi for his victory in the elections and wished him all success for India's progress and development. The two leaders also agreed to take steps to further expand and diversify trade and investment flows and deepen cooperation in agriculture and dairy science, conventional and renewable energy, space research and applications, defence, cyber security and environment conservation.[26]
United States[edit]
In 2005 during the Bush administration, US officials denied Modi a visa due to allegations that he failed to prevent the 2002 Gujarat riots (when he was chief minister of Gujarat).[27] He was barred from entering the United States under a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act[28] (the only person ever denied a visa to the U.S. under this provision).[29] Following his 2014 election as the Prime Minister of India, however, President Obama invited him to visit the US[30][31] and Modi reciprocated in September 2014. The five day trip included attending the sixty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and giving a talk in New York City's Madison Square Garden to an audience of over 18,000[32] (hosted by Miss America 2014, Nina Davuluri and PBS NewsHour Weekend anchor Hari Sreenivasan).[33][34][35] While there, Modi also met with President Obama and several business leaders from the US.[36]
In September 2014, in an interview with CNN, Modi said that "India and the United States are bound together, by history and culture" but acknowledged that there have been “ups and downs” in relations.[37]
Relation with Russia[edit]
Modi met the Russian President, Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the 6th BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, in July 2014. During the meeting, Modi said that relations with Russia will continue to enjoy the priority that they always had in India’s foreign policy. Modi, who had also met Putin in 2001 in Moscow, remarked, "Even a child in India, if asked to say who is India`s best friend, will reply it is Russia because Russia has been with India in times of crisis."[38] The PM added that he looked forward to working with the Russian President to further deepen and broad-base the strategic partnership including in the areas of defence, nuclear energy, space, energy, trade and investment, people-to-people contacts and addressing regional and global challenges.
The two leaders looked forward to their Annual Summit in Delhi in December 2014 as an opportunity to outline a bold vision and roadmap for their relationship in the years ahead, the Prime Minister invited President Vladimir Putin to visitKudankulam Nuclear Power Plant during his trip. Putin congratulated Modi on his great victory in the recent elections. Modi said there was a need to look at a liberal visa regime, especially students going for studies.[39]
Multilateral Engagements[edit]
India, as one of leading developing countries, plays an active role in important multilateral forums for global governance such as United Nations, World Trade Organization, G20 leaders summit, East Asia Summit, BRICS summit of emerging economies, Commonwealth of Nations and often seen as a 'third world voice'. Apart from these big platforms India also engaged in many regional groupings like the BASIC, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Indian Ocean Rim Association, IBSA Dialogue Forum, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Mekong–Ganga Cooperation, BIMSTEC among others.
BRICS summit[edit]
Modi in his maiden speech at the BRICS, a group of emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, called for brotherhood among the member states citing Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, an ancient India concept meaning the entire world is one family, to unitedly face the global challenges.
India together with its BRICS partner working toward launching of a financial institute rivalling the western dominated World Bank and IMF which was first proposed during the New Delhi summit in 2012 by the then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In the 6th BRICS summit held on 14–26 July in Fortaleza, Brazil the group have agreed to establish the bank with a corpus of US$100 billion. The bank would be named the New Development Bank as suggested by the Indian side but Modi govt has failed to bag the bank's headquarter for New Delhi which would be located in Shanghai, China.[40]
- Later at an event in Brasilia BRICS leaders met the UNASUR heads of state/heads of government. At the same time, the Ministry of External Affairs added Spanish to its list of available languages, which the Hindustan Times read as "indicative of the government's intent to go beyond Europe, Asia and the US to forge diplomatic and trade ties with Latin American nations."[41] He travelled there via Germany.[42]
ASEAN Regional Forum[edit]
Swaraj attended the 2014 ASEAN Regional Forum followed by the related EAS Foreign Ministers meeting, held from 8–11 August in Naypidaw, Myanmar, which was her first ever appearance in multilateral forums after becoming India's foreign affairs head. She had held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from seven countries including China, Australia, Canada, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei and Indonesia.[43][44]
In regards to controversy of territorial ownership in the South China Sea, a contentious issue impacting most ASEAN member states, where ONGC Videsh has investment in oil blocks, MEA spokesperson said: "India is not a party to the dispute in the South China Sea. We feel that the dispute should be resolved between those who are party to it in a peaceful manner and it should be in accordance with international law".[45]
Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit[edit]
India is not a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which is known to be a China backed bloc for military and energy cooperation, holds observer status from 2005 and publicly expressed its wish for a full membership. Although Russia has all along backed India's entry it was Beijing's reservation which held it so long. But recently Chinese president Xi Jinping has informed Modi during BRICS summit in Brazil that it is ready to welcome India together with Pakistan in order to project a united front against Islamic extremism in Central Asia including Afghanistan specially after NATO withdrawal. On 11–12 September EAM Sushma Swaraj attended the Dushanbe summit in Tajikistan where India formally put its paper for a full membership and now it is likely to be granted soon according to Chinese officials.[46] And if everything goes well Modi could participate at the heads of government summit in Astana, Kazakhstan in December.[47]
United Nations general assembly[edit]
Modi delivered his maiden speech in the sixty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly on 27 September 2014, where he called for reform and expansion of United Nations Security Council including India's long standing demand of a permanent membership. He expressed his concerns over the relevance of a 20th century setup in 21st century and the need to evaluate UN's performance in the past 70 years. He had also argued why UN should serve as G-All for global governance instead of several parallel sub-groupings like G7, G20 etc. In the wake of ISIS threat in West Asia and similar in other parts of the globe he urged for immediate implementation of 'Comprehensive on International Terrorism' by the UN and offered India's pro-active role in it citing India as a victim of terrorism for decades. Prior to his speech he along with External Affairs Minister Swaraj met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and discussed UN governance relating issues.[48]Ridiculing the possibility of any multilateral intervention, a demand Sharif has made in his address at the UNGA on 26 September, on Kashmir related mater he stated that his govt is ready for 'bilateral talk' to Pakistan provided Pakistan should cultivate suitable environment for talks by giving up terrorism policy against India.[49] Modi commented briefly on climate change and use of clean energy, in this regards he also asked world leaders and UN officials for observing Yoga Day, emphasizing the importance of incorporating Yoga in modern day life style.[50]
At the sidelines he held bilateral meetings with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Nepali Prime Minister Sushil Koirala taking his 'neighbourhood first' policy forward even in New York. But there was no meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif following the recent low in the relation. Later he also met where Benjamin Netanyahu, in a first meeting in 11 years between the two heads of government, the Israeli Prime Minister who had highlighted the potential of the bilateral relation saying "sky is the limit".[51]
Upcoming summits[edit]
Though India is not a member of APEC but Chinese president Xi Jinping, the host of this years APEC summit invited Modi to attend the event in Beijing as a guest and also showed willingness to support India's bid to join APEC, India already enjoys such supports form other member states such as Russia and Vietnam.[52]
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- Third India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi, India
Overseas Indian crisis in Iraq and Libya[edit]
Further information: Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014), Northern Iraq offensive (August 2014) and 2014 Libyan conflict
On 16 June, the Ministry of External Affairs set up a 24-hour helpline at the Indian embassy in Baghdad for assistance of Indian nationals stranded in the conflict cities. It has been reported that 46 Indian nurses were abducted from the Iraqi town of Mosul[53] who were later freed and flown back to India.[54] Moreover, 39 Indian workers from Punjab are still held as hostages.
A similar situation occurred in Libya where many Indian nationals are stranded because of the armed conflict that broke in Benghazi and other parts of the country. Swaraj informed parliament that her ministry was evaluating all possibilities to secure the safe evacuation of all Indians stranded in both Iraq and Libya.[55] A chartered flight from Djerba, Tunisia brought over 200 nationals back to India. A further 216 national left on 8 August, with a total of another 1,500 nationals having been evacauted. About 3,000 more nationals registered with the embassy in Tripoli in order to return.[56] On 5 August 44 nurses returned to India on a special Air India flight; they were predominantly from Kerala with some from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.[57] A further three Goans were reported to be safe in Libya with full employment and had not requested repatriation. Goa's Director of NRI Affairs U. D. Kamat said that it was ascertaining whether there were Goan workers in the country.[58]
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