Modi regime raised nation’s status in two years
Two years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised the public and the commentariat alike by inviting foreign leaders from the neighbourhood to his swearing-in ceremony, and indicating that foreign policy would be at the centre of his agenda, the momentum he generated on May 26, 2014, remains strong. This in itself is an achievement. In his second year alone, Modi has travelled to more than 20 nations and hosted several heads of state at home including a large contingent of leaders from Africa and the Pacific Islands. Each of these has helped revitalise India's ties with friends and partners abroad. In many cases, such as Mongolia and the Central Asian Republics (which he visited in May and July 2015 respectively) or even Ireland (September 2015) and most recently Iran (May 2016), the very fact that there was political engagement at the highest levels of Government after decades was in itself the big development.
In terms of themes and focus areas, Year Two saw a reiteration of the Neighbourhood First policy, though with mixed results, and a continued emphasis on engaging with the diaspora as well as on India's emergence as a naval power and net security provider in the Indo-Pacific. Notably, this past year also saw the Modi Government give shape and form to its West Asia policy — with visits to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran. As expected, oil and energy cooperation was at the core; while foreign investment for infrastructure development in India was the new plank that was added to the bilateral. With Iran, the finalisation of a trilateral agreement on Chabahar involving India, Iran and Afghanistan deserves a special mention for it feeds both into New Delhi's West Asia policy (as an economic tool) and its Neighbourhood First policy (as a strategic tool vis-à-vis Pakistan and Afghanistan). In terms of multilateral engagement, the show-stoppers were the Africa summit in New Delhi and India's leadership role at climate change summit in Paris. While the former was India's biggest diplomatic outreach in decades, the latter saw the Modi Government revamp India's narrative on carbon emissions and clean energy and lead the fight against climate change with the global solar alliance.
Viewed together, there is enough reason here to give Modi high marks for his foreign policy performance. That said, there were also some issues which need to be highlighted for a complete assessment. First, the Government ought to recalibrate its China policy, given that Beijing is unlikely or unwilling to consider India’s concerns regarding Pakistan-generated terrorism on Indian soil. No amount of Indian regard for Chinese sensibilities will change China’s position in this regard. And, with Pakistan, the Government has had to continuously shuffle its policy in the vain hope that it would help revive relations with Islamabad. The other major problem has been last-mile delivery. With much fanfare, pacts are announced and deals are signed, but many are yet to be implemented. For example, the so-called ‘breakthrough' in the nuclear liability clause achieved during US President Barack Obama's visit in January 2015, is yet to result in a commercial agreement. Similarly, the French President came and went earlier this year, but the Rafale deal is yet to be signed.