Presentation at SSAI Panel Discussion: Killing Nehru: an evaluation of Modi’s foreign policy and economic diplomacy - Lawrence Sáez

Killing Nehru: an evaluation of Modi’s foreign policy and economic diplomacy

Lawrence Sáez

In order to evaluate the BJP’s performance in foreign policy and economic diplomacy, it is useful to examine the BJP’s campaign manifesto in 2014. Most of the content of that lengthy document focused on domestic policy proposals, devoting merely a page and a half to foreign policy and economic diplomacy. The 2014 BJP manifesto showcased a proposed foreign policy approach that emphasised growing regional cooperation and the linking of economic diplomacy to achieve ’s foreign policy goals. The BJP manifesto also vowed to make the promotion of Brand India as the driver for the country’s efforts to increase bilateral trade volume and investment. The BJP’s emphasis on these policy areas represented two important changes. Firstly, in emphasising regional cooperation, it represented a radical departure from the belligerent stance that previous BJP manifestoes had voiced. Secondly, in linking economic diplomacy to foreign policy, the BJP also signalled a departure from Nehruvian foreign policy tenets about the exercise of India’s leadership within the framework of a non- aligned movement. As a result of India’s tumultuous period after Independence, was to emerge as its most immediate adversary.

Given ’s limited experience with foreign policy matters, it is perhaps ironic that his administration’s most notable achievements to date relate to India’s external relations. Compared to his predecessor, Narendra Modi has embraced the international stage with gusto. For instance, Modi’s two state visits to the United States in September 2015 and September 2015, followed by his visit to the United Kingdom in November 2015, showed that Modi is serious about cementing bilateral ties with nations that have a sizable Indian diaspora. Modi’s bold engagement with the Indian diaspora at Madison Square Garden in New York and Wembley stadium in London is an important step in linking the burgeoning Indian middle class with their counterparts abroad. Moreover, Modi’s numerous state visits abroad - including , France, Germany, Brazil, - have showcased his heretofore hidden talents as a salesman for his vision of Brand India.

Manmohan Singh, Modi’s predecessor, was frustratingly reluctant to exercise India’s leadership at the regional level. Therefore, one of the most promising areas of the BJP’s new foreign policy focus was the party’s purported commitment to regional cooperation. Narendra Modi proposed a series of bold initiatives relating to increased interregional trade and the easing of the visa regime within South Asian countries. These proposals had been scheduled to be launched at the 18th SAARC summit held in in November 2014. Unfortunately, the spirit of regional cooperation was shattered as India and Pakistan engaged in a petty diplomatic skirmish emerging from the hosting of a meeting between Kashmiri separatist politicians and Pakistan’s ambassador to India. This incident led to the temporary Presentation at SSAI Panel Discussion: Killing Nehru: an evaluation of Modi’s foreign policy and economic diplomacy - Lawrence Sáez

suspension joint secretary level talks between India and Pakistan and subsequently tarnished any expectation of regional cooperation as Narendra Modi and failed to acknowledge each other at the inaugural session of the SAARC summit in Kathmandu.

Elsewhere, Narendra Modi’s commitment to regional cooperation yielded mixed results. On the one hand, Modi’s first state visit was to , a country that is experiencing a likely transition to democracy. India’s engagement with Bhutan, focusing on strengthening governance institutions and helping Bhutan develop transport links internationally, are a positive outcome of India’s exercise of its leadership regionally. Likewise, under Modi, India was able to negotiate an important land boundary agreement and further dialogue on improving coastal and shipping transport with . On the other hand, the Indian government’s ill-advised decision to impose a blockade of goods to has obliterated any goodwill generated by India’s response in the aftermath of the April 2015 Gorkha earthquake.

There is no doubt that Nehru exercised considerable influence on India’s foreign policy framework, largely by establishing India’s position within the non-aligned movement. The pillars of India’s foreign policy of Panchsheel were enshrined in the 1954 agreement between India and China and later at the 1955 Bandung conference of newly independent states. However, the international system has been transformed radically since the early 1950s and, accordingly, India’s position in that system has also changed. The non-aligned movement is irrelevant so any foreign policy based on those institutional foundations is both quaint and anachronistic. Much like the Congress Party has been unable to rid itself from the influence of the Nehru family in its internal contestation for national party leadership roles, Congress Party-led governments have been constrained by this Nehruvian legacy on foreign policy matters. The BJP has the opportunity to develop a distinctive and innovative foreign policy that more accurately reflects India’s new place in the 21st century and adequately deals with new security challenges. By embracing regional cooperation, establishing strong links with India’s diaspora, and by using economic diplomacy to serve India’s foreign policy objectives, Narendra Modi has the (unexpected) opportunity to take India’s foreign policy outlook in a new direction. Since the BJP’s decisive victory in the 2014 general election, though, Modi’s foreign policy and economic diplomacy record is mixed. In the coming year, India has a golden opportunity to foster greater cooperation with . Likewise, India could rectify its image as a regional bully by taking a much more positive and forward-looking leadership role at the forthcoming SAARC summit to be held in Islamabad in 2016.