India's Foreign Relations On Uptick, With New Flamboyance, Promise Of Better Things
The prime minister, who visited Bhutan in his first bilateral outing, has since visited Nepal, Myanmar, Australia, Fiji, the U.S., Brazil and attended several bilateral and multilateral summits. Among the multilateral summits are: South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in Kathmandu, the G20 in Brisbane, Australia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asia Summit in Myanmar, and the first India-South Pacific Island nations forum summit in Fiji - all in November, and the BRICS summit with Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa in Fortaleza, Brazil.
He also became the first Indian leader to address the Australian, Nepalese and Fiji parliaments, and his interaction with the diaspora in New York's Madison Square Garden and Sydney Allphones area were rocking events.
While former prime minister Manmohan Singh, an intellectual, brought his own style of learned wisdom to foreign policy that was not overt, but well thought out, towards the end of his decade in power it began to be perceived to be faltering, especially with regard to ties with neighbours. And this was largely due to troubles from coalition allies, like the DMK and the TMC.
In contrast, Modi, whose BJP-led government came to power on the back of an unbeatable three-fourths majority, is perceived by the international community as powerful, someone who means business and has the ability and the numbers to pull through tough policy decisions.
Modi, who is known to have a penchant for good attire, has brought in his own brand of flamboyance and colour to India's foreign policy - his invite to eight South Asian neighbours, his twitter diplomacy and his courting Chinese President Xi Jinping along the banks of the Sabarmati being just some examples.
Modi, who initially started off in Hindi but has since begun addressing diplomatic gatherings in English with the aid of teleprompters, has got the eyes and the ears of the international community with his promise of the ease of doing business in India, his Make in India, Clean India campaign, Skill India and building 100 Smart Cities.
His invite to U.S. President Barack Obama to be chief guest for the Republic Day parade on Jan 26 is being viewed as a diplomatic masterstroke.
