MODI'S WORLD: EXPANDING INDIA'S SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
C Raja Mohan
Harper Collins;
229 pages; Rs 499
Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office in May 2014 there has been a renewed emphasis on India's foreign policy. Starting with his visit to Bhutan within the first few weeks of taking charge, the prime minister has met several political and business leaders from across the globe. The discourse around the issue, however, has largely veered between excessive criticism and unabashed praise, all revolving around the prime minister's "foreign trips".
Amidst the din, C Raja Mohan's book Modi's World: Expanding India's Sphere of Influence provides a nuanced perspective on the government's foreign policy initiatives under Mr Modi's stewardship. The book is structured around the author's columns for The Indian Express during 2014-15, barring the introduction and the concluding chapter. Each chapter examines a particular domain of policy as it unfolded during Mr Modi's first year in office, with a review of the context and a conclusion assessing the progress and, through these, the various continuities in foreign policies and departures from previously held positions.
The introduction provides the reader with a historical perspective of independent India's domestic and foreign policy orientations. The period between 1947 and 1989 - dominated by a strong Congress - is described as "the First Republic". The period after 1989 - coinciding with the end of the Cold War, economic liberalisation and the collapse of the Congress as the dominant party - is "the Second Republic".
The author, a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, contributing editor for The Indian Express and one of India's foremost foreign policy analysts, cautiously opines that there are many opportunities for the dawn of a new era in Indian foreign policy under Prime Minister Modi - provided the foreign policy initiatives are backed up by tough structural transformations on the domestic economic, political and social fronts.
The chapter titled "Ambivalent Legacy" tracks the deterioration of global engagement during the United Progressive Alliance's last year in office. This is followed by chapters dealing with India's immediate neighbours, other Asian countries, the island states of the Indian Ocean and the prime minister's use of cultural diplomacy. Given their importance in the Indian foreign policy narrative, separate chapters are devoted to China, the United States and Pakistan.
Dr Raja Mohan suggests that India would be better placed if it leverages Chinese economic strength to accelerate its own growth, because coping with China's economic growth is far more demanding than dealing with its military might. The author also acknowledges that the prime minister is better placed than his predecessors to do this, thanks to his first-hand experience in doing business with China during his tenure as chief minister of Gujarat.
While asserting that the north-western regions of the sub-continent remain the greatest vulnerability, the author highlights the need for calm reflection, clarity on objectives and negotiating compromises on currently stated positions when dealing with Pakistan. Another noteworthy point that he makes is the need to figure out alternative ways to contest the Pakistani army's ideological premises in order to change the terms of engagement with Pakistan.
Viewing foreign policy through the prism of Mr Modi's campaign for prime ministership, the United States is described as the Uttar Pradesh of international politics. The 2014 general elections saw the Bharatiya Janata Party getting its strategy for the largest Indian state right (they won 71 out of 80 seats). In a similar vein, the author argues that getting the priorities around the world's biggest power, the United States, has manifold benefits like attainment of larger political goals and acquiring manoeuvring room when dealing with other large powers.
Although the prime minster has not yet articulated a coherent set of principles on foreign policy, the concluding chapter provides a normative view of some of the new emphases that have emerged over the first year of the present government. First, there is the stress on economic diplomacy to serve India's national interest. Second, a confident approach towards global governance and other new challenges. Third, the importance of a neighbourhood policy. Fourth, the assertion of India's civilisational identity and, finally, the emergence of India as a leading power.
Throughout the book, Dr Raja Mohan gives the prime minister high marks for attempting to discard the non-alignment-versus-alignment approach and for trying to shed the "binary approach" - such as choosing between the United States or China - in his foreign policy discourse. He also warns of the complex challenges when it comes to dealing with West Asia and the risks about conflating domestic politics and international relations.
The concluding chapter makes a valid point about how India's internal problems, inertia of its security establishment and reluctance of the political class to think about the world in strategic terms have delayed India's transition to a leadership role. This has led to persistent scepticism, especially about Delhi's ability to convert words into deeds. It will be interesting to see how the present government deals with these issues, given the domestic electoral calculus.
As such, the book provides an excellent deep dive into the foreign policy paradigms that have evolved under Mr Modi. That said, a more detailed review and conclusion to each chapter would have added depth to the book. In an area where ideas and policies take years to mature and result in action, a year is a very short time frame to analyse the changes. Therefore, one hopes the author will bring out a similar volume when the present government completes its term in office.
The reviewer is a policy analyst at Takshashila Institution, a Bengaluru-based independent think tank and school of public policy.
He tweets at @_quale and blogs on the Indian National Interest platform
C Raja Mohan
Harper Collins;
229 pages; Rs 499
Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office in May 2014 there has been a renewed emphasis on India's foreign policy. Starting with his visit to Bhutan within the first few weeks of taking charge, the prime minister has met several political and business leaders from across the globe. The discourse around the issue, however, has largely veered between excessive criticism and unabashed praise, all revolving around the prime minister's "foreign trips".
Amidst the din, C Raja Mohan's book Modi's World: Expanding India's Sphere of Influence provides a nuanced perspective on the government's foreign policy initiatives under Mr Modi's stewardship. The book is structured around the author's columns for The Indian Express during 2014-15, barring the introduction and the concluding chapter. Each chapter examines a particular domain of policy as it unfolded during Mr Modi's first year in office, with a review of the context and a conclusion assessing the progress and, through these, the various continuities in foreign policies and departures from previously held positions.
The introduction provides the reader with a historical perspective of independent India's domestic and foreign policy orientations. The period between 1947 and 1989 - dominated by a strong Congress - is described as "the First Republic". The period after 1989 - coinciding with the end of the Cold War, economic liberalisation and the collapse of the Congress as the dominant party - is "the Second Republic".
The author, a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, contributing editor for The Indian Express and one of India's foremost foreign policy analysts, cautiously opines that there are many opportunities for the dawn of a new era in Indian foreign policy under Prime Minister Modi - provided the foreign policy initiatives are backed up by tough structural transformations on the domestic economic, political and social fronts.
The chapter titled "Ambivalent Legacy" tracks the deterioration of global engagement during the United Progressive Alliance's last year in office. This is followed by chapters dealing with India's immediate neighbours, other Asian countries, the island states of the Indian Ocean and the prime minister's use of cultural diplomacy. Given their importance in the Indian foreign policy narrative, separate chapters are devoted to China, the United States and Pakistan.
Dr Raja Mohan suggests that India would be better placed if it leverages Chinese economic strength to accelerate its own growth, because coping with China's economic growth is far more demanding than dealing with its military might. The author also acknowledges that the prime minister is better placed than his predecessors to do this, thanks to his first-hand experience in doing business with China during his tenure as chief minister of Gujarat.
While asserting that the north-western regions of the sub-continent remain the greatest vulnerability, the author highlights the need for calm reflection, clarity on objectives and negotiating compromises on currently stated positions when dealing with Pakistan. Another noteworthy point that he makes is the need to figure out alternative ways to contest the Pakistani army's ideological premises in order to change the terms of engagement with Pakistan.
Viewing foreign policy through the prism of Mr Modi's campaign for prime ministership, the United States is described as the Uttar Pradesh of international politics. The 2014 general elections saw the Bharatiya Janata Party getting its strategy for the largest Indian state right (they won 71 out of 80 seats). In a similar vein, the author argues that getting the priorities around the world's biggest power, the United States, has manifold benefits like attainment of larger political goals and acquiring manoeuvring room when dealing with other large powers.
Although the prime minster has not yet articulated a coherent set of principles on foreign policy, the concluding chapter provides a normative view of some of the new emphases that have emerged over the first year of the present government. First, there is the stress on economic diplomacy to serve India's national interest. Second, a confident approach towards global governance and other new challenges. Third, the importance of a neighbourhood policy. Fourth, the assertion of India's civilisational identity and, finally, the emergence of India as a leading power.
Throughout the book, Dr Raja Mohan gives the prime minister high marks for attempting to discard the non-alignment-versus-alignment approach and for trying to shed the "binary approach" - such as choosing between the United States or China - in his foreign policy discourse. He also warns of the complex challenges when it comes to dealing with West Asia and the risks about conflating domestic politics and international relations.
The concluding chapter makes a valid point about how India's internal problems, inertia of its security establishment and reluctance of the political class to think about the world in strategic terms have delayed India's transition to a leadership role. This has led to persistent scepticism, especially about Delhi's ability to convert words into deeds. It will be interesting to see how the present government deals with these issues, given the domestic electoral calculus.
As such, the book provides an excellent deep dive into the foreign policy paradigms that have evolved under Mr Modi. That said, a more detailed review and conclusion to each chapter would have added depth to the book. In an area where ideas and policies take years to mature and result in action, a year is a very short time frame to analyse the changes. Therefore, one hopes the author will bring out a similar volume when the present government completes its term in office.
The reviewer is a policy analyst at Takshashila Institution, a Bengaluru-based independent think tank and school of public policy.
He tweets at @_quale and blogs on the Indian National Interest platform