Modi 3.0: India’s Foreign Policy
What has India achieved on the global stage in the last ten years?And, what will or should Delhi’s foreign policy look like under Modi 3.0? On ‘The Gist’, that’s what we discuss with Ambassador Pankaj Saran. He’s Convenor NatStrat, Member, NSAB, Former Deputy NSA, and Ex-envoy to Russia and Bangladesh. “This government has conveyed to all neighbours that India has red lines. Above all, it has security interests. We would expect both to be respected. Just as we would respect their red lines. So, if we have that compact with a neighbour. That India’s security interests are important. Then everything else follows. But, if we start from the presumption that you can damage India’s core security interests. And yet expect a normal, healthy relationship, that’s a difficulty,” Ambassador Saran tells Amitabh P. Revi.
Over the next five years of Modi 3.0: India’s Foreign Policy, he points out, “India will increasingly remain a powerhouse for the immediate and extended neighborhood. And, as your footprint grows, you will be called on to do even more. Firstly, you will have to have a different mindset to handle frictions, problems. And not allow those to distract you from the more medium, long term enterprise of asserting and re-inventing India’s historical role and position, in this extended region.
For instance, Maldives’ President Dr Mohamed Muizzu was among regional leaders at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony on the 9th of June. Others who attended were the President of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Vice-President of Seychelles, Ahmed Afif, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, as well as Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, the Prime Minister of Mauritius, the Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay.
Watch this episode of ‘The Gist’ for more on Ambassador Saran’s analysis on where India stands on the global stage. Where India needs to be over the next five years. The China challenge. The India-U.S. relationship. India’s Russia partnership. How India is dealing with global crises. The neighbourhood. And Pakistan.
