When a country hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian
President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama in rapid succession
for bilateral meetings, it demonstrates its ability to forge partnerships with
rival powers and broker cooperative international approaches in a changing
world. This is exactly what India is doing under Prime Minister Narendra Modi
in a display of diplomatic footwork that recently prompted the Russian
ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, to publicly remark: "India is a rich
fiancee with many bridegrooms."
Since sweeping to power in May in India's biggest election victory in a generation, Modi has shaken up the country's reactive and diffident foreign-policy establishment with his proactive approach and readiness to break with conventional methods and shibboleths. The Modi foreign policy appears geared to move India from its long-held nonalignment to a contemporary, globalized practicality.
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- At a time when a new U.S.-Russia Cold War appears to be brewing,
- Modi -- just after hosting Putin -- will receive Obama in January, marking the first time an American president will have the honor of being the chief guest at India's Jan. 26 Republic Day parade.
- The charismatic Modi , has also sought to strengthen bilateral partnerships with other key players, including Japan, Australia and Israel.
- For example, his much-photographed bear hug with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has come to symbolize the dawn of an alliance between the world's largest democracy and Asia's oldest (and richest) democracy.
In essence, this
means that India -- a founding leader of the nonaligned movement -- is likely
to become multialigned. Building close partnerships with major powers to pursue
a variety of interests in diverse settings will not only enable India to
advance its core priorities but will also help to preserve strategic autonomy,
in keeping with its longstanding preference for policy independence.
In the last quarter
century, the world witnessed the most profound technological, economic and
geopolitical changes in the most compressed timeframe in modern history. But
much of India's last 25 years was characterized by political weakness and
drift, resulting in erosion of its regional and extra-regional clout. For
example, the gap in power and stature between China and India widened
significantly in this period. A 2013 essay in the journal Foreign Affairs,
entitled "India's Feeble Foreign Policy," focused on how India is
resisting its own rise, as if political drift had turned the country into its
own worst enemy.
Against this
background, Modi -- widely known for his decisiveness -- has made revitalizing
the country's economic and military security his main priority. So far he has
made more impact in diplomacy than in domestic policy, a realm where he must
prove he can help transform India. Nevertheless, Modi's focus on the grand
chessboard of geopolitics to underpin national interests suggests a strategic
bent of mind.
Modi indeed has
surprised many by investing considerable political capital in high-powered
diplomacy so early in his term, even though he came to office with little
foreign-policy experience. He has succeeded in putting his stamp on foreign
policy faster than any predecessor, other than the country's first
post-independence prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Foreign policy pragmatist
Modi's actions thus far suggest a
clear intent to recoup India's regional losses and to boost its global
standing. One trademark of Modi's foreign policy is that it is shorn of
ideology, with pragmatism being the hallmark. In fact, India's new leader has demonstrated
a knack to employ levelheaded ideas in both domestic and foreign policies to
lay out a nondoctrinaire vision and to win public support. For example, he has
launched a "Make in India" mission to turn the country into an
export-driven powerhouse like China and Japan and to transform it from being
the world's largest importer of weapons to becoming an important arms exporter.
Modi's clarity and vision, coming after a long era of ad hoc, reactive Indian
diplomacy, is seen as a welcome change for India.
To be sure, the
Modi foreign policy faces major regional challenges, exemplified by an arc of
failing, revanchist or scofflaw states around India. India's neighborhood is so
chronically troubled that the country faces serious threats from virtually all
directions. This tyranny of geography demands that India evolve more dynamic
and innovative approaches to diplomacy and national defense. India must
actively involve itself regionally to help influence developments, which is
what Modi is attempting to do.
A broader and
more fundamental challenge for him is to carefully balance closer cooperation
with major players in a way that advances India's economic and security
interests, without New Delhi being forced to choose one power over another. One
balancing act, for example, is to restore momentum to a flagging relationship
with Moscow while boosting ties with the U.S., which has quietly overtaken
Russia as the largest arms supplier to India.
Even though Modi
told Putin during a summit of BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China
and South Africa -- in Brazil in July that "every person, every
child" in India knows Russia is the country's "biggest friend,"
the reality is that the India-Russia camaraderie of the Cold War era has been
replaced by India-U.S. bonhomie. Modi must stem the new risks as Russia moves
closer to India's strategic rivals -- selling top-of-the-line weapon systems to
China and signing a military-cooperation agreement with Pakistan in November.
Despite the
challenges confronting Modi, India seems set to become multialigned, while
tilting more toward the U.S. and other democracies in Europe and Asia. Yet,
importantly, India will also continue to chart its own independent course. For
example, it has rebuffed U.S. pressure to join American-led financial sanctions
against Russia and instead has publicly emphasized "the need to defuse
Cold War-like tensions that are increasingly manifesting themselves in global
relations." A multialigned India pursuing omnidirectional cooperation for
mutual benefit with key players will be better positioned to expand its
strategic influence and promote peace and cooperation in international
relations.
Because of its
geographical location, India is the natural bridge between the West and the
East, and between Europe and Asia. Through forward thinking and a dynamic
foreign policy, India can truly play the role of a facilitator and
soother between the East and the West, including serving as a link between
the competing demands of the developed and developing worlds. At a time of
heightened geopolitical tensions, the world needs such a bridge-builder.
(Brahma Chellaney is a professor of strategic studies at the independent Center for Policy Research in New Delhi and the author of "Water: Asia's New Battleground," the winner of the 2012 Bernard Schwartz Award.)
