In 2019, India’s foreign policy went from being accommodative to being openly defiant. From diluting Kashmir’s status to the new citizenship law, India has unleashed a new set of diplomatic challenges, upsetting even traditional allies. PM Modi spent his first term accruing diplomatic capital, his second cannot be spent firefighting.
Yogi govt comes off as vengeful by ignoring SC ruling on public property damages
Uttar Pradesh government is selectively targeting Muslims for recovery of damages to public property during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Violence mustn’t be condoned, but the state can’t be seen as vengeful or partisan. CM Adityanath is deliberately ignoring Supreme Court guidelines by quoting only the Allahabad High Court.
Shocking major lie is being spread daily by the media and govt. that India has been gaining Diplomatic capital. Nothing can be further from the truth. The global communities have their own problems and all are indifferent to a country called India. You are welcome to delude yourself but facing the fact is for your own good. It is not that any one (except Pakistan, et al, a North Korea of Asia) hates India, plans harm to India etc. They all just do not care one way or another as they are all head deep in their own problems. India w.ill not progress much until the chest thumping delusion stops..
To add to my earlier comment, here’s an excerpt from an article in Foreign Affairs “The Age of Great-Power Competition”
“This shift in Washington’s focus has been some time coming. Elements of it emerged, mostly in a reactive form, under President Barack Obama. The Trump administration has gone one important step further, recognizing that great-power competition warrants rebuilding U.S. foreign policy from the ground up, and it has based its formal strategy documents on that recognition. When future historians look back at the actions of the United States in the early twenty-first century, by far the most consequential story will be the way Washington refocused its attention on great-power competition. Beneath today’s often ephemeral headlines, it is this shift, and the reordering of U.S. military, economic, and diplomatic behavior that it entails, that will stand out—and likely drive U.S. foreign policy under presidents from either party for a long time to come.” (Colby, E.A. and Mitchell, A.W. Foreign Affairs. Jan-Feb. 2020).
The same is the case with Modi government. Policy is being reviewed and redefined. I can only request that even if the editorial may be mini in size, it needs to be analytical and substantive enough to convince. Remember, policy and strategy are NOT etched in stone; they evolve and respond to the emergent opportunities. Many times there may be a method to what seems like madness.
The editorial on India’s foreign policy is completely misplaced, and is being seen through the prism of Modi’s domestic challenges. What did India gain from foreign policy pursued since the turn of the millennium? Could it get the culprits of 26/11 with the aid of its so called allies? Could it influence the US on Devyani Khobragade incident? Could it form any alliance with the neighbours to counter China’s expansionist agenda while Manmohan Singh was the PM? The answer is NO to all these questions?
Even during the Mughal empire, India was a standalone entity. While the Ottoman Empire expanded, and western imperialism consumed the world, India’s rulers always looked inwards. Non-aligned movement, though it had other countries as members, was a result of this inward looking trait inherent in the Indian culture. This is a multipolar world. There are many voices today, and India is one of them. It is just a course correction on certain issues like border control which were pending for long. The policy is NOT threatening India’s sovereignty. In fact it is sending an important message for all stakeholders in the region. India has nothing to gain or lose from the foreign policy under Modi government. The world is not static. When disruptive events threaten the world peace, India’s foreign policy won’t be left wanting, in spite of what self-styled foreign policy experts sitting outside the system would like to believe.
To be perfectly honest and objective, the economy and foreign policy, widely expected to be defining successes and achievements, have formed a double helix, trending downwards. President Obama made his assessments in January 2015. However, even by the standards of the first term, the snow melt that is now happening is unprecedented. Totally undercuts the spin that India had fallen low in the world’s esteem, and was now being seen in an entirely new, more flattering light.
PM ABV was convinced 2002 cost him 2004. What CM Bisht is doing in UP today will have profound consequences. There is time to reverse the error of judgment that installed him in office, retained him for three years despite mounting signs of his unsuitability. By now, the apex court should have intervened decisively.