Travelling from Thimphu to Washington DC, besides other capitals, and meeting a clutch of foreign leaders in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has carved out a new template for India's external relations, in which economic and political objectives commingle with other goals. Together, they project a refreshed, dynamic image for India, even if one that runs the risk of running ahead of ground reality. Raising expectations overseas gives urgency to transforming the home situation, on which rest both our credibility and the country's future progress.
Governing India is a blended marathon-steeplechase, not an 800-metre run. Mr Modi's foreign policy actions now beg the question: what foreign-domestic policy priorities should figure in his 'Action Today' list, to borrow a Churchillian phrase (Churchill's personal office liberally used a large rubber stamp on which was emblazoned that memorable dictum.)?
One: Prioritise neighbours; eschew Pakistan-centrism. Inviting all Saarc neighbours plus Mauritius to the Cabinet's oath-taking on May 26 was a masterstroke. Keep up the momentum of subsequent visits to Thimphu and Kathmandu (the latter, the first bilateral journey by an Indian prime minister in 26 years, can it be believed?). For too long, our neighbours have felt that New Delhi is so overwhelmed with managing its Pakistan policy that it has little time for them. Yes, Pakistan obsesses with India, but we need not to reciprocate. Sushma Swaraj put it very well; there are no full stops in diplomacy. Might we add: pauses are permissible, at times even appropriate?
Two: Splendid new beginnings registered with Japan, China and the US, plus Australia; pursue these multiple poles. The coming months should see India reach out to Europe, Russia, plus Asia, in Southeast Asia (i.e., Asean), the Gulf and the Central regions. Foreign visits are inescapable leadership obligations in today's interdependent world; episodic bilateral discussions on the margins of multilateral meetings are a pale shadow of what a well-crafted journey produces, as PM Modi's personal experience demonstrates. And do not neglect either Africa or Latin America.
Three: Establish rigorous follow-up mechanisms to ensure that decisions produce action. Foreign ministries are built for the role of synthesisers, to generate whole-of-government action on external decisions, because they have no sectoral constituency. But they need the wherewithal. For instance, the strength of the East Asia division is exactly four executive-level officials, including the fine young joint secretary heading it. When I worked as an under-secretary in that same division led by K R Narayanan 49 years back, we had the same number. What has changed is that bilateral relationships with its three major countries, China, Japan and South Korea, are vastly deeper and demanding (the division also covers Mongolia and North Korea). Other territorial divisions in the ministry for external affairs, or MEA, face similar critical shortages. Implementing decisions covering all the recent summit discussions will need inter-ministry monitoring; the MEA will have to shift to a performance management culture. One option: bring in armed service officers to provide robust follow-up, like other units in the MEA (such as the UN and public diplomacy divisions). By the way, is a single-country priority, like a 'Japan Fast Track', a wise idea? Why not an 'India Fast Track' to benefit all foreign investors?
Four: Give a 'Make in India' focus to foreign direct investment promotion. Crucial actions are needed at home to turn the promise of welcome to foreign investors into reality. Embassies now also have a clear FDI target: foreign investors that will focus on India's labour strength and create jobs - such targeting did not exist earlier. Textiles, leather and a host of consumer industries should be a preference. (FDI in fast-moving consumer goods, for supply chains and even retail, is a logical consequence, even if this challenges the ruling party's doctrine.) Embassy commercial and economic sections, especially ambassadors, have to proactively reach out to potential investors, working with them to assist in their investment actions. New Delhi cannot do this; the embassy network needs the wherewithal for its promotional actions.
Five: Make export facilitation a centrepiece of economic diplomacy. For too long, the department of commerce and the MEA have viewed each other as contestants over turf. Accepting two-dozen commerce and other non-IFS nominees for new commercial posts abroad gives a real boost to India's outreach; perhaps a new cooperative paradigm can be built. Learning from our own best practices should be applied, to craft new approaches that help Indian companies in new foreign markets and promote new products. Example: in 2004, Anup Mudgal, then commercial counsellor in Mexico City, produced a market study on pharmaceutical products for which a consultancy company might cheerfully have charged $50,000 or more. Such clear examples sharpen the cutting edge of our export mobilisation.
Six: Treat training in eco-political diplomacy as a core priority. As a distance teacher, I have a vested interest in encouraging this mode of professional education. In e-learning, at one end we have the MOOCs that give mass access to the basics of learning. At the other end we have tightly focused, teacher-led short courses for small groups, covering specialties such as public, economic, multilateral and other diplomacy activities. The foreign ministries of Mexico, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago are among the converts to this learning mode.
Seven: Improve economic policy communication. Analyse the reasoning behind matrices such as the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business', and target those segments where actions are doable to improve our standing, looking to early harvest. And treat improvement in such indices as a goal. Create a new group of global and Indian CEO advisers to the PM, and get them to produce a wish-list of actions needed to improve receptivity to business, domestic and foreign.
The US visit yielded a clearer articulation of India's diaspora diplomacy than seen hitherto - especially in PM Modi's powerful address at the Madison Square Garden jamboree. Announcing reform of visa policy - and documentation for NRIs - was natural. If we now enforce e-visas as the new norm, all the back-office work can shift to India; robust, efficient management will eliminate the hassles that visitors face today, NRIs and foreigners alike. Consular offices then would have to handle only that fraction of one per cent of visa refusals. In the process, visas for foreign scholars and for conference attendees might also be simplified, eliminating one more of the current blights in our visa system.
The writer, a former ambassador, is honorary fellow at the Institute for Chinese Studies in New Delhi
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