“On some issues, there has always been a consensus in this country. And foreign policy is one of those. As far as foreign policy is concerned nothing has changed,” Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the first BJP Prime Minister, told Lok Sabha in 1999. In the years that followed, the conduct of foreign policy has increasingly become a contentious topic in Indian politics. Hyperactive TV anchors and social media explosion have played their roles in this heightened frenzy over foreign policy questions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a muscular foreign policy approach a part of his politics from the 2002 Gujarat State election campaign onwards.
Rahul Gandhi has taken a leaf out of Mr. Modi’s book. “Weak Modi is scared of Xi [Xi Jinping, Chinese President]. Not a word comes out of his mouth when China acts against India. NoMo’s China diplomacy: 1. Swing with Xi in Gujarat. 2. Hug Xi in Delhi. 3. Bow to Xi in China,” Mr. Gandhi said on Twitter, after China blocked, for the fourth time , a move in the U.N. Security Council to list JeM chief Mazhood Azhar as a global terrorist.
He is trying to question Mr. Modi’s claims of a strident policy towards its hostile neighbours, Pakistan and China. JeM had claimed responsibility for the Pulwama terrorist strike that killed at least 40 Indian soldiers on February 14.
“With China having blocked our bid to designate Masood Azhar a global terrorist, the question on every Indian’s mind is, what was the use of all the swinging with Modi and President Xi,” the Congress said on its official Twitter handle. “A terrorist responsible for such bloody murders is let off the hook again by the BJP,” it claimed.
Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and former Union Minister Manish Tewari also targeted Mr. Modi on China.
Mr. Modi had targeted his predecessor Manmohan Singh for alleged weaknesses on the international front before he became Prime Minister. Though Pakistan has been a constant trope in his politics, Mr. Modi also used incidents such as the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade by the United States to argue it was all happening because of Mr. Singh’s “ weak leadership .”
Mr. Singh also had to deal with pressure from partners such as the Trinamool Congress, the DMK and the CPI (M) on key foreign policy issues — some he won, some he lost.
Once he became Prime Minister, Mr. Modi’s results have been mixed. His China policy vacillated, from bonhomie with Mr. Xi to military escalation in Doklam to reset of friendship. With surgical strikes and cross-border raids in Pakistan, Mr. Modi has been successful in protecting his image on the western front, but with China, things have been complicated. Under Donald Trump, the U.S.’s Asia policy is also less than reassuring for India. Mr. Trump has clubbed India and China in the same category of protectionist states on several occasions.
His management of China challenges Mr. Modi’s strongman claims. Mr. Gandhi wants to bring that to the front-burner, and question Mr. Modi’s triumphant claims with regard to Pakistan.
It is not that there were never disagreements in India on foreign policy in the earlier periods. But they were muted and discussed politely. The current domestic hostilities over foreign policy questions, and public litigation of those make mature policy-making an uphill task for India and could hamper the country’s international standing.
