Days after Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi was sworn into office for his first term in 2014, a retired senior American diplomat visiting Delhi fretted if he would de-prioritise India’s relationship with the United States (US). That apprehension was based on the torment the former chief minister of Gujarat had been subjected to from some quarters in that nation, including being denied a visitor’s visa for some time on specious grounds that were ultimately demolished at every level of India’s judiciary. That diplomat’s concern was proven unwarranted when the new PM took the US by storm in September of that year, making friends and influencing people. He also sent an unmistakable message of India’s growing clout with a rousing diaspora event at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the first of many such jamborees worldwide.
This month saw déjà vu of that magnanimous yet strategic mindset when India was among the first nations to respond with aid to Turkey after a devastating earthquake. It is no secret that relations between the two countries had been strained, with acerbic exchanges and sparring at global forums over Jammu and Kashmir and cross-border terrorism.
Such willingness to put aside slights and personal affronts, see beyond conflicts, and do the right thing in the larger national and global interest is rare, and easier said than done. Even statesmen and diplomats are human and not always capable of taking the high road. It takes a big heart, steely determination and a deeply held belief in a higher principle, in this case, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, Indic philosophy’s old vision of the world as one family.
In the past nine years, India has significantly ratcheted up its earlier fledgling efforts to assist other nations in distress. This became especially noteworthy during the pandemic and its aftermath. The world watched with astonishment as India defied dire predictions and stood head and shoulders above others in minimising the pandemic’s ravages. It developed vaccines and rolled out history’s biggest and fastest vaccination campaign. But besides the billions of vaccinations at home, it was the hundreds of millions of doses made available to over 100 other nations that stunned the world.
The subsequent financial aid that India provided to economically devastated neighbours marked a major milestone. These are consequential because of the significant amounts, friendly outreach, and geopolitical context in the midst of a global economic crisis. In the case of Sri Lanka, for instance, prompt Indian help came when the country was in dire straits, having defaulted on its international repayments. It stood in stark contrast to China, whose mercantilist forays had pushed the emerald isle to economic collapse. This has been made possible by India’s sharply rising economic trajectory. Good intentions alone would not have been of much use if India did not have the wherewithal to back these initiatives. The Indian economy is now the fastest growing among the big nations. That has attracted worldwide admiration, respect, and keenness to develop closer ties.
India’s influence and friendships are blooming around the world under the PM’s stewardship, but of special significance is PM Modi’s ability to turn around relationships that had previously been tepid or even downright contentious. The rapprochement with a Taliban-run Afghanistan and newly developed rapport with many West Asian Islamic nations are cases in point.
There are a couple of exceptions which prove the rule. His attempts to woo Pakistan and China into an entente cordiale have been rebuffed and repaid with hostility. But that is because, when it comes to India, they remain among the rare few holdouts who are not seeking a win-win outcome.
But this new India, while going out of its way to court friendship, is also capable and willing to respond robustly to hostile actions. Just as the world acclaims India’s friendly outreach of soft power, it has also watched with respect our calibrated but fierce responses to Chinese aggression and Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
This transition to a new global image of India has registered with all but the most dyed-in-the-wool Modi baiters. Recall how some domestic opponents belittled many of his early initiatives, such as promoting the International Day of Yoga or the aspiration for an Indian renaissance, and once again becoming a Vishwa Guru, an example setter among nations, and a magnet for scholars, investors and tourists. The harshest of the PM’s critics went so far as to question the armed forces and its exercise of hard power. The idea that a recalcitrant Pakistan bent on rebuffing peace overtures and continuing cross-border terrorism could be isolated by a principled Indian thrust was mocked. Yet, that is almost where that hapless country — besieged by jihadi-incubating, democracy-overthrowing men in uniform — finds itself today.
While it is too early to predict the future of Turkish-Indian relations, it can nevertheless be unambiguously stated that India’s humanitarian outreach has led to a thaw and overt mutual professions of friendship. In a world undergoing tectonic geopolitical shifts, a rising India is playing its hand with aplomb and is being widely welcomed.
Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, is national vice-president, BJPThe views expressed are personal
