India’s foreign policy at a cusp?

·        BY SUMIT GANGULY

·        JUNE 28TH 2015

Is India’s foreign policy at a cusp? The question is far from trivial. Since assuming office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited well over a dozen countries ranging from India’s immediate neighborhood to places as far as Brazil. Despite this very active foreign policy agenda, not once has he or anyone in his Cabinet ever invoked the term “nonalignment”. Nor, for that matter, has he once referred to India’s quest for “strategic autonomy” — a term of talismanic significance to the United Progressive Alliance government.

Modi’s studious avoidance of these terms, along with a series of choices during his first year in office, may well bespeak new era in India’s foreign policy. Apart from his avoidance of such fraught language Modi has taken decisions that suggest a clear break with the past. For example, without much fanfare he invited President Barack Obama as the chief guest at India’s annual Republic Day Parade. Long after the Cold War’s no, no other prime minister had even considered such a gesture. Given the many past vicissitudes in Indo-US relations, his invitation to Obama was laden with meaning: India was now ready to move toward a more cordial working relationship with the United States.

His ability to take touch decisions was also on display during his visit to France. Thanks to the vagaries of India’s complex defense procurement process, the purchase of 126 Rafale medium multi-role combat aircraft has long been in abeyance. While in France, cognizant of the acute needs of the Indian Air Force, Modi chose to purchase 36 aircraft in a “fly away” condition. Admittedly, this abrupt decision is not without its critics. Nevertheless, it did demonstrate a clear-cut willingness on his part to make a demanding decision affecting India’s vital security needs.

Closer to home he has also demonstrated a remarkable degree of verve and imagination in the conduct of the country’s foreign policy. Past regimes had ineffectually protested the Pakistan High Commissioner’s feckless dalliance with various Kashmiri separatists on the eve of many Indo-Pakistani bilateral talks. However, in August 2014, when High Commissioner Abdul Basit chose to do yet again, despite a clear warning from the Ministry of External Affairs, the Prime Minister’s office simply called off the Foreign Secretary level talks.inattention to this critical region is disturbing. It can only be hoped that in due course he will turn his gaze toward this vital area.

Barring serious missteps and some focus on persuading India’s foreign policy establishment of the virtues of his policies, Modi may well be able to bring about much-needed shifts in India’s foreign policy orientation.

Sumit Ganguly is a Professor of Political Science, holds the Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, and directs the Center on American and Global Security at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is the author of Indian Foreign Policy: Oxford India Short Introductions (OUP India, 2015).