Foreign policy of Narendra Modi

The foreign policy of the Narendra Modi government (also referred to as the Modi Doctrine) concerns the policy initiatives made towards other states by the current Modi government after he assumed office as Prime Minister of India on 26 May 2014.

The Ministry of External Affairs, headed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj (the first woman to hold the office since Indira Gandhi), is responsible for carrying out the foreign policy of India. Modi's foreign policy is currently focused on improving relations with neighbouring countries in South Asia, engaging the extended neighbourhood in Southeast Asia and the major global powers. In pursuit of this, he has made official visits to Bhutan, Nepal and Japan within the first 100 days of his government, followed by the United States, Myanmar, Australia, and Fiji.

Swaraj has also made official visits to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam, Manama, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, United States, United Kingdom, Mauritias, Maldives, United Arab Emirates, South Korea, China, Oman and Sri Lanka.

While Chief Minister of Gujarat, and under sanction from Western states like the United States, Modi made several foreign trips to foster his business links with major Asian economic powers. This included meeting Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe twice in 2007 and 2012 and building a personal rapport. He also reached out for investment deals with China and Israel, who sought to increase economic ties beyond defence and agriculture, according to outgoing Israeli Ambassador Alon Ushpiz. He was widely appreciated for his endeavour to organise Vibrant Gujarat, a biannual international business summit, to welcome investment in his home state which also helped build a pro-development and business friendly image.

Though Modi made no major foreign policy speeches during the general election campaign in 2014 except calling out China's potential aggression along the border with India and making "illegal immigration" from Bangladesh an election issue specially during the later part of his campaign in eastern states like Assam and West Bengal. He also asserted that Hindus outside the country would be able to seek asylum in India should they require it. But time and again he had emphasized the fact that he (born in 1950) was going to be the first post-independence-born Prime Minister of India therefore it would be natural to expect a shift in the world view from his predecessors. He also pledged to have a "strong" foreign policy, including engaging with China. He had asked for External Affairs Ministry to focus more on trade deals instead of other geopolitical initiatives.

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Wikipedia