Much of India’s foreign policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi stands on solid ground because of the foundation laid by his two immediate predecessors – former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
India’s global diplomacy underwent a tectonic shift in its policy and approach on the back of two major decisions taken by New Delhi in the 1990s – the liberalization of India’s economy in 1991, for which the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh was named the Architect of India; Credit is given as. Most important economic reforms”, and in 1998 when nuclear testing was conducted in Pokhran under the leadership of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Today, India is considered an emerging global power and many leaders have contributed greatly to this endeavour, but these were the defining moments from where the journey of modern India began.
India has now lost both these leaders. Manmohan Singh passed away late Thursday evening, leaving the country of 1.4 billion in mourning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to his predecessor, writing, “India mourns the demise of one of its most distinguished leaders, Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji.”
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar also expressed grief over the demise of the former Prime Minister. In his tribute, Dr Jaishankar wrote, “Although he is considered the architect of Indian economic reforms, he was equally responsible for strategic reforms in our foreign policy. It was a privilege to work closely with him. His kindness and Courtesy will always be remembered.”
Nuclear deal – a historic moment
Although his discipline was mainly finance and economics, Manmohan Singh was always known for his keen interest in foreign affairs. When Dr Singh took over the reins from Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2004, this area became an area of special focus. Dr Singh continued to build on what the Vajpayee government had done, largely agreeing with the direction India’s foreign policy had taken after the Pokhran nuclear tests. So far.
He understood the importance of building India’s legacy as a responsible nuclear weapons state by securing a clean-chit from the Nuclear Suppliers Group or NSG to pursue India’s civilian nuclear deal, starting with the United States. Getting clearance from NSG was a significant moment in India’s history.
When Manmohan Singh became Prime Minister in 2004, S Jaishankar was Joint Secretary (Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs. In this capacity, Dr. Jaishankar was deeply involved in negotiating the landmark India-US civil nuclear agreement and improving defense cooperation between the two countries.
Manmohan Singh chose S. Jaishankar as one of the key members to shape India’s nuclear policy and obtain necessary approvals for nuclear cooperation with other countries. For this, Dr. Singh gave special approval to Dr. Jaishankar to have unrestricted access to the Department of Atomic Energy as well as the Prime Minister’s Office.
Under Dr Singh’s leadership, Dr Jaishankar worked tirelessly to help India get approval from the Nuclear Suppliers Group as well as to craft the framework for a civil nuclear deal with the US. The framework of the agreement was supported by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who was the President of India until 2007 – a year before the agreement was signed.
For their role in successfully securing the deal, Manmohan Singh and S Jaishankar are widely regarded as the architects of the India-US civil nuclear agreement. To turn this agreement into reality, Manmohan Singh had even put the existence of his government at stake in 2008.
On 6 September 2008, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) adopted a policy decision allowing civil nuclear cooperation between all its member countries and India. The foundation stone laid by Manmohan Singh was built when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, today apart from America, India has signed civil nuclear agreements with France, Russia, Britain, Japan, Canada, Australia, UAE, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Argentina, Kazakhstan, Mongolia. , Czech Republic, Sri Lanka and Namibia.
diplomatic policy
From the beginning, Manmohan Singh continued Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s policy of ‘greater engagement’ – which the Modi government still pursues today – although engagement with Pakistan no longer exists due to India’s firm policy that “negotiations and terror are one Can’t go together” -in hand”.
The policy of greater engagement – a shift from the previously adopted policy of non-alignment – allowed India to build on its vision of a multi-polar world from the largely bi-polar world during the Cold War – the US and Russia, And more recently America and China.
Reinforcing this policy during his tenure as Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh emphasized relations with the US, Russia, China and Pakistan – the countries considered most important to India’s foreign policy at that time. .
diplomatic challenges
Carrying forward Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s legacy of trying to resolve differences with Pakistan, Dr Singh’s government remained associated with three successive governments in Islamabad. Many notable signals of peace were sent, but all efforts made by successive governments in India since 1999 went in vain after the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Even with China, the Manmohan Singh government engaged with the two different regimes, and made considerable progress in maintaining peace along the Line of Actual Control or LAC – the border between India and China. Several confidence-building measures were taken to maintain this, but there were still several incidents of transgression by Chinese troops, some of them even leading to a temporary standoff in the Ladakh region.
Other notable contributions
Relations with Russia progressed and significant progress was made regarding relations with Japan. Relations with Tokyo were elevated to the level of strategic partnership. Dr. Singh’s government also worked to advance India’s decade-long ‘Look East’ policy – what we know today as the ‘Act East’ policy.
Under the leadership of Manmohan Singh, India’s relations with African countries as well as Latin-American countries grew significantly. It was constructed by PM Modi after assuming office in 2014. Today, India plays a very important role as the “voice of the Global South”.
