Indian Council of World Affairs

Distinguished Dignitaries on the podium, Esteemed guests, Faculty Members, and Dear Students, 

It is a privilege for me to participate in this national seminar and speak as the guest of honour at its inaugural session. The venue, Mizoram, an important state in north-eastern India, enjoys unique importance. The theme chosen is apt and timely. Now, it is for us, the participants, to contribute to the event's success by presenting our diverse but thoughtful perspectives. 

I sincerely thank Mizoram University and the ICWA, which I had the honour of leading as its director general for three years, for this gracious invitation. 

Since I speak at the inaugural session, may I take the liberty of being a generalist covering several aspects of the chosen theme? However, I am fully aware of the time constraint. Therefore, I plan to comment on only a few facets of India’s foreign policy, such as its basic philosophy, evolution, and current context, while focusing on the nation's role in South Asia, the eastern region, Africa, and its plurilateral diplomacy. 

Philosophy and evolution 

As a diplomat with 36 years of experience and a student of foreign policy for 22 years, I am deeply conscious that foreign policy is designed to pursue national interest. Every country desires the same goals: security through the protection of its territorial integrity and national sovereignty; socio-economic development consistent with climate change, development of technology, and other economic changes; and safeguarding national dignity and expanding space on the regional and international stage. In pursuing these goals, India has always adopted an enlightened approach that factors in the interests of other nations, regional stability, and security, as well as international welfare and world peace. 

India’s foreign policy philosophy has been shaped by its ancient civilizational heritage and belief in treating the world as a single big family, the writings of practitioners like Chanakya, and the experience and ideals of the nation’s long freedom struggle. Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru shaped our foreign policy perceptions for several generations. Notably, in the past 77 years since India attained independence in 1947, the policy has undergone many changes in conformity with transformations in the country, the region, and the world at large. At the same time, the policy's foundations and other defining features have been imbued with perceptible continuity. 

There are many ways to dissect the story of the development of our foreign policy. That is why I disagree with the seminar’s concept note, which divides the past seven decades into only three periods. My considered view is that this evolution may be better assessed under six distinct phases: i) the Nehru years (1947–64), ii) the post-Nehru years, iii) the Coalition era (1991–99), iv) Atal Bihari Vajpayee as  PM, v)  Dr. Manmohan Singh as PM, and vi) Narendra Modi as PM. 

It is my contention that the Prime Minister and the PMO, together with the national security adviser and the external affairs minister, play a significant role in framing the nation’s foreign policy and conducting its diplomacy. 

I also believe that of the fourteen prime ministers we have had between 1947 and 2024, three stand out as “foreign policy PMs”, and they are: Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Narendra Modi. 

Context and content 

It is a truism that the broad content of foreign policy changes with time and with the political, economic, and social conditions within the nation-state and its surroundings. Soon after attaining independence, India was driven by the impulse to protect itself against external invasion and interference, the determination to expedite the independence of the rest of Asia and Africa, and the need to accord a high priority to poverty alleviation, economic development, and institution building.

Seven decades later, our national priorities are different. We are committed to deploying foreign policy and diplomacy to the broad cause of development, accelerated economic growth, and the use of modern technologies, including AI, to secure sustainable development. The focus today is on consolidating the solidarity of the Global South and securing women-led development. These and other goals were presented sharply and persuasively as the Indian government conducted the presidency of G20 during 2022–23. Yet national security is never far from the core priorities. Hence, protecting our borders by expediting international cooperation for counter-terrorism and taking all necessary measures to deal with two difficult neighbours, such as Pakistan and China, have always received the highest attention from our policymakers. 

Foreign policy must be studied and assessed in the context of its times. What is specifically the global and regional context for India today? 

One, it is an era of ‘poly-crisis’ that began in 2020 with the outbreak of the Covid pandemic and has been followed by disastrous wars in Europe and the Middle East, even as the US-China rivalry deepened, especially in the Indo-Pacific region. 

Two, it is a time of rebalancing when economic power and other forms of power have been shifting from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the US and Europe to Asia because of the steady rise of China, India, and other nations. 

Three, the emergence of multipolarity is a fact of international life, where about a dozen poles of power mould the pattern of events, trends, and narratives. By no means are they equal. Besides, underneath this multipolarity lies a limited form of bipolarity built around the division between the West (i.e., G7 and NATO) and the East (i.e., China and Russia). 

Four, India's faith in multi-alignment and strategic autonomy is blended with a pro-Western policy orientation that still allows it to keep intact and deepen its legacy ties with Russia and manage its vexed relations with China.  Now, its leadership ambitions relating to the Global South drive it to charter a balanced path, helping India to serve as a bridge between the West and the East and between the North and the South. At the end of the 2024 summits of the Quad and BRICS, we saw New Delhi occupying a unique geopolitical sweet spot. But its position is neither without risk nor vulnerability. 

Five, the foreign policy agenda has become more varied and complex with the induction of contemporary needs and trends. At present, when the external affairs minister of India interacts with his counterparts in Asia, Europe, or elsewhere, he invariably ends up talking about critical emerging technologies, resilient supply chains, climate goals, and climate finance, radicalization and curbing terrorism-related financing, critical minerals, debt burden, mobility, and migration. India’s first foreign minister did not have to deal with most such matters. 

Select facets 

The list of priorities for India’s foreign policy is long but may vary depending on who is drawing it up. Due to the paucity of time, let me draw pointed attention to only four specific issues here. 

South Asia, our immediate neighbourhood, will continue to shape our approach to the region and our role and place in the world. In this decade, developments in respect of our neighbours stretching from Afghanistan to  Bangladesh and Myanmar and Nepal to Sri Lanka and Maldives have demonstrated the region's continuing and vital relevance to our great power ambitions and our ability to bring stability, security, and progress. We need a candid debate on the effectiveness of the ‘Neighborhood First’ policy, how we stand today vis-à-vis all our neighbouring countries, and the approach towards regional cooperation and integration. Additionally, given the fact that this seminar is taking place in Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, a focused discussion on India’s Myanmar policy and India-Myanmar relations should also be considered. 

India’s relations with the region east of it, or as the concept paper puts it, ‘the Eastern orientation’ of foreign policy, is also of considerable significance. The Bandung Conference of 1955 was held in this region. It was the precursor of the Non-Aligned Movement that shaped international relations for nearly 40 years. Since the end of the Cold War, we have gone through the phases of ‘Look East’ and ‘Act East’ policies. We are now in the latest phase of the Indo-Pacific strategy or policy with a sustained focus on special projects like the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and the Quad. Both have much to do with ‘the China factor’, despite the official narratives to the contrary. Our debate here should clarify whether implementing these policy initiatives has been optimal so far and how they are likely to be affected by Donald Trump’s return to the White House. 

Africa and the Global South command a special place in India’s priorities. During the pre-Covid period, the Modi government achieved significant traction in advancing the multidimensional partnership with Africa, officially depicted as the ‘core of the Global South.’ Then, the pace slackened due to extraneous factors. Now, a new spurt of enthusiasm has been noticed with the entry of the African Union into G20 as a permanent member due to India’s leadership and the latest visits by the President and the Prime Minister of India to four African countries – Algeria, Mauritania, Malawi, and Nigeria.  A close look at the post-Covid challenges and opportunities on the African continent and the need for New Delhi to re-orient its strategy recommends itself. 

Finally, India’s plurilateral diplomacy requires an objective examination and evaluation. Perhaps the six most important plurilateral groupings for India are G20, the Quad, G7 (where India has nearly permanent guest status), BRICS, BIMSTEC, and SCO. Ideally, each needs a separate session and a separate set of specialists. Perhaps a detailed dialogue on this subject could be held in the future. 

Conclusion 

Let me make two additional points. 

First, in his latest book, Professor Shreeram Chaulia analyses India’s relations with its seven closest strategic partners – the US, Japan, Australia, Israel, UAE, France, and Russia. At this book’s launch recently in Delhi, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar observed that friendships among nations have much to do with “convergent interests” as well as “instincts, trust, solidarity, and respect.” He added that friendships “are also not exclusive.” I would suggest that this is a restrictive list for India, which aspires to be a leading power in the future and is not content with being a balancing power. Therefore, special efforts are needed to expand this list by cultivating closer ties with nations of the Global South, such as Indonesia, Brazil, South Africa, Egypt, and Argentina. 

Second, and this is the parting thought for you, dear students: the study of International Relations and foreign policy is highly relevant to you all. No matter what you study today – science, IT, commerce, business management, or humanities, international developments will impact your life and career trajectories. Therefore, it is highly advisable for you to make optimal use of this seminar.

I wish you the fullest success in this seminar.

*****