Intrigued by India’s enigmatic new leader, the world is anxious about the foreign policy implications of someone who has held no national post, will lead the government of a billion-strong, nuclear-armed country with the world’s third-biggest economy in purchasing power parity ($5.4 trillion), and has spelt out his economic agenda but not his foreign policy priorities. It should stop worrying. Narendra Modi’s foreign policy is likely to be pragmatic, not dogmatic; practical, not ideological; and reciprocally assertive or accommodating. The nature and margin of his victory gives him a rare opportunity to upend former New York governor Mario Cuomo’s oft-quoted 1985 aphorism. Having campaigned in prose, Modi could conduct his foreign policy in elegant poetry that combines robust defence of some traditional interests with abandonment of shibboleths past their use-by date and bold initiatives to break out of stagnant stalemates on others
Posted on: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 09:14:59 +0000
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