{"id":91346,"date":"2019-07-12T17:38:11","date_gmt":"2019-07-13T00:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=91346"},"modified":"2019-07-12T17:38:11","modified_gmt":"2019-07-13T00:38:11","slug":"from-gujral-doctrine-to-modi-doctrine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/07\/12\/from-gujral-doctrine-to-modi-doctrine\/","title":{"rendered":"From Gujral doctrine to Modi doctrine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Punsara Amarasinghe, <\/strong>PhD researcher,<\/strong>Institute of Law and Politics, <\/strong>Scuola Superiore Sant Anna,<\/strong><\/em><\/span>Pisa,Italy <\/em><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

The predictions\nmade by larger number of academics based in Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta about\nIndian General elections vouching that Narendra \nModi would not get his second term as prime minister were shattered in\nreality as Modi could uphold his strong position better than the previous time resulting\na steeping success of his Bharatiya Janatha Party which won 302 seats in Indian\nLok Saba. The election result has palpably shown a shocking decline of India\u2019s\nlargest political party National Congress led by Rahul Gandhi as Congress could\nsolely win only 52 seats in the legislature. The gob smacking results of the\nelection seems to have given a clear picture of voters pulsation as the ground\nreality in the sub-continent albeit many pundits made pro congress predictions\nwhile accusing Modi\u2019s  poor economic\npolicy and demonetization as two major factors behind the economic crisis India\nhas been facing now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, the\nHimalayan image Indian premier has built up on himself among countries majority\nHindu population has been mainly attributed to his stanch belief in Hindu\nideology and his image seems to have depicted as a Hindu messiah who has come\nto regain the deserving place for nationalist forces. It is an important\nquestion to focus whether such ideological attitudes possessed by Modi and his\nBharatiya Janatha Party would make impacts upon carving India\u2019s foreign policy\nfor next five years. Before reaching the position of Indian premier\u2019s approach\ntowards foreign affairs, particularly regarding South Asia, it becomes an\ninteresting factor to trace how Indian foreign policy on South Asian states\nwere shaped under Gujral Doctrine which happened to be a milestone in Indian\nforeign policy when it was rendered by minister of external affairs in Dev\nGowda\u2019s government in 1996. Basic mantra of Gujral doctrine affirmed India\nbeing the larger power in South Asia should not ask for reciprocity, but gives\nall that it could in good faith to the neighboring countries like Sri Lanka, Bhutan,\nNepal, Maldives and Bangladesh. Notably Pakistan was excluded from this\nbenefited category and it further elucidated that no country would allow to be\nused against the interest of another country in the region. One of another\npivotal principle of Gujral doctrine was the noninterference of the internal\naffairs of the neighboring countries and resolving disputes through amicable\nbilateral negotiations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This doctrine\nhas been regarded as a strategy initiated by Mr. Gujral in reducing the\ninfluence of both Pakistan and China in a hostile manner while upholding a\nstable peace with other neighbors. In fact, this doctrine has played an indispensible\nrole as a major principle for many prime ministers since 1996 though none of\nthem had officially admitted the influence of Gujral doctrine over their\nforeign policy mechanism. Yet the changing winds of Indian foreign policy seems\nto be evident after the astonishing victory of Narendra  Modi and it would be an interesting task to\nassess how would Gujral doctrine prevail before the galactic persona of Modi as\na leader who seeks much dominating authority in his foreign relations in South\nAsia. Since Modi became premier in India, its foreign policy was heavily\naffected by his personal aura and besides his troublesome past of his alleged involvement\nin the communal violence of Gujarat in 2002 during his tenure as its chief minister,\nmany countries have received him with awe and Russia honored Modi by awarding\nhim the highest state decoration called Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle in\n2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In understanding\nhis foreign policy for his second term, it becomes salient that his famous\nslogan neighborhood first\u201d is likely to continue, at least nominally. But the\ntruth in reality is Narendra Modi\u2019s sole personal image driven by his Hindutva\nideology would make some lasting impacts in foreign relations with India\u2019s\nimmediate neighbors and beyond it. The next notable factor appears to be\nstunning in Modi\u2019s foreign policy is that contrary to India\u2019s fervent position of\ndefending secularism, the space for religious diplomacy has rapidly increased\nfor past few years in India\u2019s foreign policy. In the contest between China and\nIndia as rivals for decades, it is a question beyond doubt that Chinese political,\nmilitarily and economic powers are far ahead of India, yet in terms of soft\npower mechanism India has successfully forged ahead and Modi\u2019s approach to his\nforeign relations too has taken a special interest in portraying India\u2019s\nspiritual legacy to the world extensively as propaganda tool. For example\nduring most of his foreign tours as premier, Modi paid frequent visits to major\nHindu, Buddhist and Sikh sacred sites, also his active role in introducing\nJune  21st<\/sup>  as International Yoga Day shows his effort in\npropagating India\u2019s ancient practice of meditation yoga as a soft power tool\nbeyond the sub-continent.  The utmost\nveneration towards Indic religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism\nas an important feature in foreign policy had not been a principle practiced by\nprevious Indian prime ministers since Nehru who was a doyen of secularism. On\nthe other hand the notion of Hindutva stemming from Modi\u2019s political party BJP\nand his personal ideology may confront with carving the foreign policy of India\ngenerally. The notion that Hindutva involves an obsession with national power\nneeds to be placed in its historical context. V. D. Savarkar, M. S. Golwalkar,\nH. V. Sheshadri, and other stalwarts who developed its ideational foundations\nbelieved that the golden age of ancient Hindu civilization had been lost owing\nto material and moral weakness, which had brought it under the prolonged\nsubjugation of Muslim and Christian\/ British power. The great iconic\npersonality he has been creating abroad as leader coming from a greater\ncivilization and his ardor of using Hindi as the language of communication in\nhis foreign state visits even though he is well versed in Hindi are the most\nnotable examples showing the way of his foreign policy driven by Hidututva\nideology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modi\u2019s beginning\nof his first term was quite optimistic in terms of his attitude to India\u2019s immediate\nneighbors in South Asia and this was visible as all South Asian leaders were\ninvited to his inaugural ceremony in Delhi in 2014, but throughout his first\nterm it was evident that Modi could not keep his grip over India\u2019s neighbours\nlike Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bangladesh where Chinese influence have\nappeared to be a predominant factor. For instance New Delhi was alleged to have\nsome involvement in toppling former president Mahinda Rajapakse from power yet\nhis successor Maithripala  Sirisena and\ngovernment of Sri Lankan premier Ranil Wickramasinghe have not been able to\ncompletely get rid of Chinese presence in Sri Lanka despite both personalities\nare known for their pro Indian policies. Modi\u201d s last few months may have\nbrought him a sudden success from the jingoistic voters from Hindu mainstream\nin India as last February India\u2019s jet fighters crossed into Pakistan territory\nand engaged in aerial combat in first time in nearly 50 years. In India\u2019s\nhistory since independence several prime ministers had confronted Pakistan\nmilitarily, yet the propaganda used by Modi convinced the people only he is\nable to keep India secure from Pakistan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardinal\napproach likely to be adopted during Modi\u2019s second term on Indian foreign\npolicy has much idealistic feature to uphold Indian hegemony in South Asia and\nmoreover Modi\u2019s foreign policy would pay a much attention in using soft power\nas a greater strategy in India\u2019s path to global governance. Rise of Xi Jinping\nas China\u2019s powerful assertive president and his astute actions on expanding\nBelt and Road initiative across South Asia seems to have created a sneaking\nagitation in India for past few years. In such a situation Modi\u2019s foreign\npolicy for next four years five years would be decisive in terms of uplifting\nIndia\u2019s image a key player. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Punsara Amarasinghe, PhD researcher,Institute of Law and Politics, Scuola Superiore Sant Anna,Pisa,Italy \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The predictions made by larger number of academics based in Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta about Indian General elections vouching that Narendra  Modi would not get his second term as prime minister were shattered in reality as Modi could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}