‘Modi'fications in Indian Foreign Policy

Abstract

Indian foreign policy is ideologically dominated by Nehruvian model that emphasises on non-alignment. But the emergence of Mr. Narendra Modi in India's political horizon has been significantly transforming the emphasis and style of Indian foreign policy. Projecting his own uniqueness is the characteristic of Mr. Modi, which clearly reflected when he invited SAARC leaders in his swearing-in ceremony. His fast track diplomatic visits of neighbouring countries and meetings with the leaders of most of the major countries alongwith US President Barack Obama in less than a year have obviously given him a lead over his predecessors. Modi's new initiatives like, ‘Make in India’, ‘Digital India’, etc showcase his departure from the tradition. Though, former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was also no different, but he was careful to dress his policies like a continuum of the legacy of Nehruvian model. But Modi's emphasis is to project all his initiatives as departures. Hence, there are unprecedented expectations that the Modivian era has now been started in India's foreign policy to meet the demands of new geopolitical realities those were not emphasised earlier. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explore and investigate those modifications which came into the Indian foreign policy since Mr. Modi became prime minister of India. It examines the strategic initiatives and endeavours of new government, and discusses how the style and substances of Modi's foreign policies are different from his predecessors? This paper also makes an effort to analyse––to what extent will Modi's foreign policy be effective in accelerating the pace of India's rise as a global power? In particular, the paper exclusively focuses on India's foreign policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.