Charging that the decade of the UPA tended to weigh the nation down with New Delhi punching substantively below its weight in pushing through its foreign policy objectives, the BJP on Friday maintained that the Modi Government has “moved with speed and resolve on a scale rarely seen in our external engagement”, to restore “Bharat’s position in international affairs, rebuild partnerships across the board and cross new frontiers in our foreign relations”. “Bharat has emerged as the Pole Star —Dhruv Tara — of the democratic world,” it asserted.
In the foreign policy resolution titled ‘Our national ambition is Bharat’s rise as a strong and respected ‘world power’, the BJP said country’s global aspirations have been matched by greater global engagement with countries of all regions ignoring power-bloc politics.
Attacking the erstwhile UPA regime, which the resolution termed the ‘lost decade’, the BJP said it reveals retreat and a loss of direction in engaging with neighbours, ham-handed diplomacy vis-à-vis Pakistan and a blind-spot in our foreign policy to the Indian Ocean island States. “The UPA dispensation seemed grossly incapable of moulding Bharat’s foreign policy, national security and economic development imperatives into a composite and coherent policy framework,” it maintained.
“We have rendered irrelevant geo-politics of hyphenation while boosting bilateral relationships without being influenced by any third country. We have successfully deepened our engagement with all major powers and with countries in every region of the world”, said the resolution moved by parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu which was seconded by Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar. The finale of the resolution was read out by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
“Samman — dignity and honour; Samvad — greater engagement and dialogue; Samriddhi — shared prosperity; Suraksha — regional and global security; and Sanskriti evam Sabhyata — cultural and civilisational linkages; these five themes have become the Panchamrit — new pillars of our foreign policy”, the resolution said.
In 10 short months, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister together have engaged with 94 countries from every part of the world adding a new dimension to our global mission of peace, partnership and prosperity, said the four-page resolution which throughout referred India as “Bharat”.
“Bharat enjoys an enhanced international stature today. There is not a single important global forum where our country’s stirring civilisational message has not reached and echoed. Prime Minister’s first speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in Hindi revived the memory of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and energised the great national pride that all the countrymen feel, whether living in Bharat or any other part of the world,” it said.
The resolution said the PM’s call for declaration of International Day of Yoga in the UN was adopted with record co-sponsorship and within record time.”
We provided strong leadership and new vision to East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN-India Summit, G 20 Summit, BRICS Summit and SAARC Summit, each of which is crucial to our region, Asia and the world,” the resolution stated outlining the foreign policy achievements.
The resolution described it as a great tribute to Bharat’s unequivocal commitment to democratic values that Modi was invited to address several Parliaments, including in Bhutan, Nepal, Australia, Fiji, Mauritius and Sri lanka.
The resolution credited the PM for filling a long gap in many bilateral relations with visits to Nepal after 17 years, Sri lanka after 28 years, Australia after 28 years, Fiji after 33 years and Seychelles after 34 years. The visit of the newly elected President of Sri lanka to Bharat immediately after the election is a major diplomatic victory for the country. Besides, Prime Minister Modi’s personal rapport with leaders of most of big powers — USA, China, Japan and Russia — has helped catapult Bharat to a significant role in the big power orbit, it said.
The resolution said the Modi Government paid attention to nearly 30 million strong diaspora ofRs Bharatwasis — both the NRIs and the PIOs —largely been a neglected lot all these years”.