Indian foreign policy is in the throes of change , ever since Narendra Modi assumed charge as Prime Minister in 2014 riding a popular mandate. As the Modi government finishes two year in office foreign policy has remained its pièce de résistance and after decades India is enduring a rugged foreign policy. The promise of metamorphose became evident at his swearing in ceremony which saw the participation of SAARC head of state and since then paradigm shift in India’s foreign policy is in pace. Now the country is in position of vigour and when we speak people perceive.
In last decades head of the state never thought of visiting Canada, Australia and Islands of South Pacific but Prime Minister Modi broke the set-trend. It was for the first time South Pacific gained prominence in India’s foreign policy calculations. The rings of change are swift moving and now the world is seeing India with immense craving and buoyancy. When Modi went to China, India and China signed a record 24 business agreements worth more than $10 billion dollars in key sectors, including in railways and education. Similarly, when he went to Japan , India and Japan signed a record agreement worth 33.5 billion dollars. In return, Modi promised to introduce a special mechanism like a “Japan Fast Track Channel for Japanese investors in India” to woo investment into the country. Modi’s audacious engagement with super powers is a new arrangement of India’s foreign policy.
US-India Business Council initiative is yet another audacious initiative by the government where Prime Minister interacted with around 400 CEOs, investors and business leaders during his visit to the United States. Following Modi’s interaction $42 billion was committed for investment in India. John Chambers of Cisco Systems post meeting Prime Minister Modi made a remark “PM Modi is an amazing ambassador of India’s growth story. PM Modi will change the world. He has a global vision, he understands global trends. US and India will be very strong because of your (PM Modi’s) leadership. ” From expeditious resolution moulding to tactile exertion on the deck level. India is truly undergoing phenomenal metamorphosis!
Foreign policy has been the most visible dimension of Modi government’s term. One of the biggest success stories of India’s foreign policy in the past two years has been the speed with which United States relations have deepened. There are the exuberant comments: Modi “transcends the ancient and the modern,” Obama wrote in Time magazine. “Barack and I have formed a bond, a friendship,” Modi said. No suspicion he has shove India as the “biggest opportunity” for both business investment and career-building in the current global economy. Some intellectuals might call “Chai-Pe Charcha” with US President Obama or “Feeding the Fish” with the Vietnam Prime Minister as mere symbolism but in this era of globalization symbolism does matter to a considerable extent. It was for the first time in the history that the leaders of India and the US co-authored a newspaper article with the message “ chalein saath saath.”
In India, if there is one department that has understood the importance of social media, it is the Ministry of External Affairs. Minister Sushma Swaraj has a formidable presence online; she has been acknowledged and cherished for her efforts in helping Indians facing problems abroad with assistance. A Google keyword search shows you that when you also search for Sushma Swaraj, ‘badass’ shows up in the suggestions. This is perhaps for good reason Sushma Swaraj has through various rescue operations shown her mettle in providing Indians abroad with superlative care.
Rather, just being a balancing force globally, Modi has etched out an assertive role for India that seeks to make it a leading power. This is evident in Modi’s global outreach to clinch India the coveted membership of Missile Technology Control Regime(MTCR), Nuclear Suppliers group(NSG), although China played spoiler in the latter case.
It would be partisan to compare Nehru and Modi’s foreign policy. When Pt. Nehru was the Prime Minister India was just born and liberated itself from the British dominance. Neither India was globalized nor had acute perilous challenges. Aftermath of the uri attack the Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a strong note to the impostor Pakistan and said, “India would never forget the Uri terror attack and would make all efforts to isolate Islamabad globally.” On 29 September, a military encounter between India and Pakistan began and India conducted a successful surgical strikes across the Line of Control on Pakistan occupied Kashmir(POK) and around four dozens militants were killed.
This is obviously not the first time that the Line of Control (LOC) has been crossed, but this is surely the only time when the crossing has produced tangible results. This highlights the conviction that Prime Minister Modi has displayed. Gen (Retd) Bikram Singh, the former Chief of Army Staff, had the following words to say, in a TV interview: “These kinds of operations have been done in the past. I’ll be honest with you. But, the scale at which it has happened, the political will after which it has unfolded is something to be appreciated. Earlier, it was left to the military to carry out. But this time the military operations have been supported entirely. I would say, they’ve been steered by political will, by political agenda.” It is India’s major diplomatic victory that today no nation is questioning the surgical operations carried out by our army. Mind it, don’t be soft enough to become a soft-target. I know Taj was not built in a day but it should have been rebuilt in a day.
Modi’s foreign policy appears geared to reinvent India as a more merciless, reliant and taut nation. Indian faction is now admired all around the sphere and time has changed promptly. Now the World is seeing India with immense craving and buoyancy.
