Major positive shift in world Perception

Notwithstanding his critics’ remarks that holdalls are always ready at the 7 Race Course Road for foreign trips, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted that it was a matter of pride and satisfaction for him that a major positive shift was taking place in the world about India, its potential and prospects.

  

 In an interview to United News of India (UNI) recently on completing one year in office, Mr Modi Observed that the world was new for him and he was new for the world.  Changing image and perception about India in the world was a compulsion and “I did accept this challenge – I will go myself to hold dialogues to effectively tell the world about India, its potentials and prospects,'' he said. Mr Modi said that it should be a matter of pride for all countrymen that India's proposal  before UN of the idea of the International Yoga Day was supported by as many as 177 countries  for the first time in the history of the world body and passed within 100 days.

 The world is now gearing up to observe the Yoga Day on June 21. Mr Modi said that at the onset of the 21st century, the concept of BRICS emerged and it was believed that the present century would be driven by  members of the grouping. Soon this impression started emerging that  India was weak in BRICS and the entire hypothesis was upset.  “This situation put responsibility on my government. I was aware of the  impact of the challenges.” Mr Modi gave full credit to the people for  giving him a decisive mandate to form an absolute majority government  after three decades, which, he said, had helped his regime to enjoy the  image of a ‘decisive administration with confidence’ in the world.  From  his remarks in the interview, it is quite obvious that Mr Modi  is  unfazed by the barrage of criticism by his detractors that he has no  time to undertake inland tours so extensively vis-a-vis foreign lands. In any case, Mr Modi appears to have brought a rare energy to India’s  foreign policy, infusing it with a dash of colour and his own personal  warmth in ties with world leaders even as he has kept up a frenetic pace  in his diplomatic engagement –- visiting 18 countries in the course of  his first year in office. Mr  Modi brought in his own distinctive style right from the day he took  over on May 26, 2014. His gesture to invite seven South Asian  neighbours, from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation  (SAARC) and Mauritius, to his swearing-in was an assertion of his  government’s neighbourhood policy. The surprise invite and the sight  of so many leaders from neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, were  hailed as a major foreign policy coup. Mr Modi has not looked back  since. He has met the leaders of all the ‘Permanent Five’ (P5)  members of the UN - the US, Russia, China, Britain and France –  interacting with some of them more than twice. Mr Modi has helped  revitalise India’s relations with not just neighbours and the Southeast  Asian region, but with the West, the Middle East, and even Latin America  and the distant islands of Seychelles. Besides Mr Modi’s foreign  visits and interactions with heads of state and government during their  India visits, his External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been  quietly busy in cementing India’s ties across the world, with Minister  of State General(Retd) VK Singh actively chipping in. 

The year-long hectic diplomatic calendar saw 162 diplomatic engagements with 101 countries between Mr.Modi, Ms Swaraj and MoS VK Singh. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which stormed to majority on its own strength in the Lok Sabha elections, had in its poll manifesto promised to focus on India’s ties with neighbours. The neighbourhood outreach started in right earnest, beginning with key strategic neighbour Bhutan, which Mr Modi chose as his first port of call.  Bhutan, India’s closest ally for decades, also shares a border with China. Besides visits to immediate neighbours Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and most recently Bangladesh, Mr Modi has travelled to Europe – visiting France and Germany, the US, Canada, China, and Australia and became the first Indian prime minister to visit Mongolia.

Mr Modi has visited Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Mauritius, Seychelles, Fiji and Brazil. He has attended several multilateral summits, including BRICS, ASEAN, EAS and G20. Adding to the neighbourhood outreach, Mr. Modi signalled his government’s determined push to the ‘Look East’ Policy, by terming it ‘Act East’, and following it up with active engagement with the Southeast Asian region. To make the 'Act East' policy really work, the government is giving a major push to connectivity projects through India’s northeast to the ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) countries – a region where China has a strong presence.

 Mr Modi has followed it up with his 'Link West' policy, engaging with countries on India’s west, including the Middle East region. A hallmark of Mr Modi’s foreign policy is his stress on  economic diplomacy, which he does through actively promoting his government’s 'Make in India' initiative, and assuring the foreign governments and the top corporates of ease of doing business in India. As part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the Prime Minister has urged foreign governments to participate in India’s railways sector, in manufacturing, infrastructure, defence, smart cities, urban planning and other sectors. He has also been seeking active participation of foreign countries in his government’s other initiatives like Digital India, Skill India, Clean Ganga Mission, Swachch Bharat Mission and Renewable Energy.  

Another important aspect of his  foreign policy is interacting personally with top CEOs  during overseas  visits. The Prime Minister has met with the leading CEOs of most top  companies in the world, inviting them to participate in the India  story.  Mr Modi’s US visit was the most-watched event in the diplomatic  calendar in 2014, where he shrugged off any bitterness due to being  denied a visa by the US government in 2005, and bonded with US President  Barack Obama. In a major diplomatic coup, the Prime Minister got  President Obama to be the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day Parade on  January 26, 2015. Mr Obama became the first US president to attend the  Republic Day parade, and also the American President to visit India  twice during his term. He had previously visited India in 2010.Mr.  Obama, who has called Prime Minister Modi a “man of action”, and shares a  warm chemistry with him, also addressed a joint “Mann ki Baat” radio  address with him during his visit to India in January this year. Even though India  shares close economic ties with China, the relationship is overshadowed by  unease over the unsettled boundary question, Mr. Modi has, however,  tried to build a healthy relationship with the Chinese leadership. He has  met Chinese President Xi Jinping four times in the past one year –  possibly the most times he has interacted with any other world leader. 

When President Xi came to India in September, Mr Modi invited him over  to Ahmedabad and the two confabulated while taking a walk along the  Sabarmati river front, amid a colourful backdrop with performances by  folk dancers and folk musicians on the waterfront. In this, Mr Modi  signaled a breakaway from the formal stiff diplomatic interactions –  that have been the norms for decades in India – and also introduced  states as equal participants in India’s foreign policy.Reciprocating the  Prime Minister’s gesture, President Xi received Mr.Modi in his hometown  of XI’an in Shaanxi province during his May visit to China and accorded  him a spectacular traditional welcome.Though the boundary question did  not see much progress during his China visit, both countries have made  progress in cementing people-to-people ties and economic relations.

With  Russia, Mr Modi has emphasised India’s close  traditional ties. During his coming visit to Russia in July for  the BRICS and SCO summits, he would be having his fourth meeting  with President Vladimir Putin. The government has stated firmly that India is against Western sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine  crisis. However, with Pakistan, India’s difficult western neighbour, the  ties have only plummeted. The relationship, which started off on a  promising note with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attending the May 26,  2014, swearing-in of Mr Modi and their short bilateral talks  thereafter,  petered out following Pakistan’s insistence on hobnobbing with Kashmiri  separatists just four days ahead of the foreign secretary-level talks on  August 25 last year. India has always maintained that there could be no  third party in talks between the two countries. The persistent firing  on the border and the deaths of Indian soldiers and civilians has also  added to the bitterness. Pakistan has also been constantly raising the  Kashmir issue at international forums and has recently released 26/11  mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi from jail, adding to the bitterness in  ties.

Mr Modi’s latest tour to friendly eastern neighbour Bangladesh was a  historic one, resulting in both countries ratifying the 41-year-old  Land Boundary Agreement, one of the two outstanding issues which Dhaka  has been keen on India to conclude. Mr Modi, during his talks with  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and his public speech at Dhaka University,  assured Bangladesh that his government will continue to strive to reach  an accord on the Teesta water sharing, while keeping all stakeholders on  board.

With Japan, another friendly country, India upgraded its ties  to special strategic global partnership during Mr Modi’s meeting with  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September last year. He shares a close  rapport with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, with both sharing  warm hugs during his visit to Brisbane last November. With South Korea,  where he visited recently in May, both countries elevated their ties to  Special Strategic Partnership and to hold the diplomatic and security  dialogue in the “2 plus 2” format - between their foreign and defence  secretaries. Till now India used to hold such a dialogue with  Japan.

During his speech at the UN General Assembly in September last  year, which was in Hindi, the Prime Minister proposed instituting an  International Yoga Day, which was adopted in a record time. In December  last year, the UN General Assembly adopted the India-led resolution  declaring June 21 as 'International Day of Yoga’ with 175 nations  joining as co-sponsors, the highest number ever for any UN General  Assembly resolution.

A major change that Mr Modi has brought to India’s  foreign policy is in removing the diplomatic jargon from the language  that was traditionally followed by South Block for decades. Mr Modi’s  speeches have an informal, simple style, in keeping with his own image  where he likes to interact informally with people.Mr.Modi also brought  in the use of Hindi into India’s foreign policy – which was earlier  considered the sole preserve of the English language. Mr Modi, who  began his diplomatic engagements in Hindi initially, aided by a  translator, has now begun giving speeches in English – keeping in mind  the audience. But while speaking informally to large audiences abroad,  especially the diaspora, Mr Modi is at his best in Hindi.A major part of  the Prime Minister’s interactions abroad has been with the Indian  diaspora. Right from the time he held thousands of ecstatic Indians  spell-bound with his speech at New York’s Madison Square Garden in  September last year, he has made it a point to bind with the diaspora,  and also urged them to participate in the India story in a big way.

The Prime Minister announced the decision to merge the Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards with its Overseas Citizen of India cards, in a major relief, and lifelong visa to PIOs. Another important facet of Mr Modi’s foreign policy has been his outreach on Twitter and Facebook, not just  with his multitude of fans and supporters but with global leaders too.  He is on tweeting terms with Australian PM Tony Abbott, Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, among others. The Prime Minister’s instant tweets and pictures of his interactions during diplomatic engagements give his followers a close look at developments in Indian foreign policy.

Mr Modi has also added the 'selfie' to India’s diplomacy, clicking selfies with many world leaders and posting them on twitter. The selfie diplomacy has proved a huge hit, including with the prime minister’s fans.