Human-centric approach is helping India navigate choppy global waters
Modi's foreign policy emphasizes India's rise as a global player, focusing on consensus building, regional relations, and a human-centric approach amidst challenges.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy is fleet-footed, driven by his personal energy and vision, anchored in a distinctly Indian civilisational milieu of dharma (duty) and vasudhaiva kutumbakam (the world as one family).
Modi has been in office long enough to impart his imprimatur to India’s foreign policy. He, more than any other Indian leader, understands the importance of developing a consensus on India’s rise as it breaks into the front ranks of the global economy. Not being a permanent member of the UNSC made India vulnerable to the machinations of some major powers, but over the past decade, India, under Modi, has transformed itself from an observer to an active and influential player on the global stage. India’s growing economic strength, its generous aid and assistance programmes, and considerable expeditionary capabilities have enabled it to emerge as a first responder during pandemics, natural disasters and financial crises across the regions. It has emerged as a credible voice in building consensus across the North-South and East-West divides.
Consensus building in an uncertain world is a difficult proposition when multilateral institutions are riddled with infirmities. But India’s deft use of plurilateral frameworks have helped it to straddle conflicting positions. The Kazan Brics communique, with which India associates, sharply criticised Israel’s military actions in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria even as India maintains good relations with Israel.
Between the politics of domination and deterrence, Modi’s diplomatic initiatives have focussed on redirecting the global discourse towards a new human-centric approach. He has often spoken of the need to eschew war. Throughout its G20 presidency last year, India urged the global community to resolve differences through dialogue. This approach is evident in India’s position on the war in Ukraine.
Lingering differences with China and Pakistan remain major legacy challenges. Zero tolerance for terrorism and boldness in imposing unacceptable costs on adversaries have redrawn the red lines. Cross-border strikes on terrorist infrastructure and the linking of dialogue to concrete behavioural change have put Pakistan on notice, the so-called nuclear overhang notwithstanding.
By maintaining a robust military posture, yet engaging with China at multiple levels, the Modi government has succeeded IN restoring the patrolling arrangements that existed along the Line of Actual Control prior to the incident in June 2020. The highly capable and resilient Indian armed forces, backed by a resolute political leadership, have shown that military coercion is unacceptable and that denial of patrolling access is a game that two can play.
Indeed, the recent Modi-Xi meeting during the Brics summit has the potential to take the discourse beyond the border situation. For India, a satisfactory restoration of normalcy in the border areas remains a sine qua non for deepening engagement in other sectors. The main issues for India are the huge trade imbalance and the need to develop a modus vivendi for the potential participation of Chinese supply chains in the Aatmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India) vision.
India’s Neighbourhood First policy is geared to promoting inclusive growth and prosperity in the region. Modi has displayed great pragmatism in seeking better relations with neighbours. Relations with the Maldives are fast returning to an even keel even as the political change in Bangladesh continues to test Indian diplomacy.
More effective oversight mechanisms for the growing volume of India’s aid and assistance programmes would help achieve better outcomes, especially in the neighbourhood.
If Pakistan can abandon its inveterate belief in the use of terrorism, former PM Nawaz Sharif’s recent call to bury the past and look to the future could yet see some forward momentum in Modi’s third term.
During its G20 presidency, India steered global focus back on to core developmental challenges such as green transitions. The only nation to have achieved its Paris Agreement commitments ahead of time, India remains a strong advocate of clean energy and equitable green transitions. Modi’s commitment to digital technology is strikingly evident in the scale at which India has provided low-cost services to millions and now stands ready to share its successful Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) model with others.
Yet, a great challenge for India is how to seize the opportunities provided by the global trend of de-risking from the Chinese economy. Another key question is whether the fifth-largest economy can get to the third position and continue to grow without fuller participation in regional trade and investment frameworks.
The Ukraine and Gaza conflicts have revealed the power of propaganda that can create trans-national loyalties and pit civil society groups against governments. The exploitation of such sentiments by vested interests is a challenge, with deep ramifications for India.
The diaspora firmly backs Modi’s clarion call to achieve a Viksit Bharat (developed India) but the threat posed by separatists, terrorists and their sympathisers working in tandem with hostile powers and deep states must be taken seriously.
Modi’s foreign policy has demonstrated a pragmatism that coexists with resolute courage to stand firm on sensitive issues, including the growing interference from some quarters in the West in India’s internal affairs. A better strategic understanding with key western powers will facilitate India’s progress.
A new Trump administration in the White House could imply higher tariffs on India’s exports but less evangelism on so-called backsliding on democratic freedoms. If Trump succeeds in ending the war in Ukraine, it could free up Russian oil. Together with a possible hike in US production of fossil fuels, this could dampen the international price of crude which benefits India. An end to the conflict in Gaza would further stabilise the geostrategic environment for India.
India is ineluctably moving to a higher orbit in international relations. It is developing greater attributes characteristic of a major power. India is at the forefront of nations in urging that the rules-based international order, curated in a bygone era, reform itself to become more inclusive and respond more effectively to the urgent challenges facing humanity. The force of Indian strategic thought and postulates, long latent but now at the forefront, should help Modi and his team steer the ship of international diplomacy towards a values-based future for all.
Sujan Chinoy, a former ambassador, is the director general of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. The views expressed are personal.