01
Dec
Modi’s Foreign Policy Mantra: geoeconomics, regional hegemony, global aspirations
Comments Off on Modi’s Foreign Policy Mantra: geoeconomics, regional hegemony, global aspirations
Within just six months in power, Narendra Modi has managed to induce a dramatic overhaul of India’s hitherto muffled and ill-defined foreign policy, and has dramatically increased his country’s global profile. Successful summits with the BRICS grouping (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Japan, China, Nepal and Bhutan were topped off with a high-profile visit to the United States (US) from 27-30 September. Modi’s US visit was his most interesting foreign trip: barred from entry to the US for nine years because of accusations over his role in the Gujarat massacre of 2002, the red carpet to the White House was rolled out. Modi received a ‘rockstar’ reception in the US, especially from Americans of Indian origin, for example addressing 18,000 people at Madison Square Gardens in New York.
Unlike his predecessors, Modi has underscored foreign policy as a priority from the beginning alongside a strong mandate to put India’s economy in order. Modi aspires to re-invigorate India’s emerging power status, which suffered in recent years due to poor economic growth. He has not only injected focus and ambition into India’s foreign policy, but also linked it directly to his plan to transform India’s economy. Launched in September 2014, ‘Make in India’ has become Narendra Modi’s signature programme as he aspires to convert India into a global manufacturing hub.
His foreign policy mantra therefore is strongly driven by geoeconomics – especially attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) – and at the same time seeks to consolidate India’s leadership role in South Asia. While the previous Congress party led governments prioritised relations with the US and the European Union (EU) (the Singh government negotiated the historic US-India nuclear energy agreement from 2005-2008 and launched free trade talks with the EU in 2007), Modi is shifting the focus to India’s immediate neighbourhood and other major Asian countries like Japan, China and Australia, as well as the BRICS grouping.
Modi has a personal penchant for foreign policy and, unusually, had undertaken numerous foreign visits (especially to China and Japan) while Chief Minister of Gujarat, an Indian state. Modi’s foreign policy mixes uber-pragmatism with business acumen. He has managed to convince both China and Japan to invest heavily in India while reestablishing India’s foothold in its precarious immediate neighbourhood.
Reaffirming India’s traditional non-aligned policy, Modi has employed a more muscular approach to asserting his country’s independence while taking a very selective approach to multilateral cooperation. For example, India singularly vetoed the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in July (a draft already agreed by the WTO’s 160 members including the previous Congress-led Indian government at the Bali Ministerial Conference in 2013) over food security concerns. A breakthrough was reached in the fringes of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in November, when the US agreed not to challenge India’s food security policies at the WTO, removing the main impasse to the agreement. With the US, Modi has steered clear of joining any US grand strategy on Asia or the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria, but spoke during his visit there about trade, investment and bilateral security cooperation.
Access and Download the full Fride – Agora paper here: http://fride.org/download/PB_17_Modi_Foreign_Policy.pdf