Bid Adieu 2021 – India’s foreign policy striding ahead amidst a balanced walk

Of course, task navigating has been a guiding theme for New Delhi, and one also ought to be careful not to get 'caught' in the possible crossfires. That balancing has been done well to a large extent.

New Delhi: The season of festivity and anxious moments over Omicron and protest in the northeast that's carrying India through the chill of winter marking the end of circa 2021 will also be known for being immensely challenging in diplomacy and geostrategic realms.

Afghanistan-in-turmoil since mid-August, coinciding with India's Independence Day, of course, has been the most pressing challenge for India, its neighbourhood and all the key global stakeholders in circa 2021.

The challenges are far from over. This has also been a year when India managed new friends such as the United States and the 'old friends' like Russia while dealing with muscle-flexing from China.

Closer home in the region, Indian foreign policy, whose engine room remains steadfast with PMO under the captain of the ship Narendra Modi, focused on strengthening bonds with established allies and friends such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

In the extended neighbourhood, the ASEAN got its due importance, and so did the latest geostrategic theatre called the Indo Pacific, where India has a close association with global players like the US, Australia and Japan.

In October, at the virtual 16th East Asia Summit, the Indo-Pacific, South China Sea, terrorism and the situation in Korean Peninsula and Myanmar were discussed.  PM Modi also reaffirmed 'ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific and highlighted the synergies between ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and India's Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI).

India has focused on the QUAD factor-engaging with the US, Australia and Japan. But a crucial strategic turning point in 2021 has been the 'new military alliance' between Australia, the United Kingdom and the US – calling it the AUKUS.

Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla said AUKUS would not make a difference in the status and functioning of QUAD. But it is also a fact that the AUKUS means the supply of nuclear-powered attack submarines to Australia and the scrapping of a diesel-powered submarine supply deal with France. Paris was certainly upset about it.

Task navigating has been a guiding theme for New Delhi, and one also ought to be careful not to get 'caught' in the possible crossfire. That balancing has been done well to a large extent.

There was a diplomatic 'litmus test' for Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin as they met in person in Delhi for the 21st India-Russia Annual Summit in December. There had to be a right balance as Russia is now seen closer to China and New Delhi is now a firm and committed friend of the United States.

However, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has said that there was unanimity on many issues in Afghanistan between India and the US. New Delhi was not taken into confidence on "commitments" made by the Taliban at the Doha talks. "…. When I say levels of concern, the commitments which were made by the Taliban at Doha, the US knows it best. We were not taken into confidence on various aspects of that," Dr Jaishankar has said.

The India-Russia relationship finally leapfrogged to a new realm, with the two sides holding a game-changer '2 Plus 2' Dialogue. in Delhi. Putin called India "a great power, a friendly nation, and a time-tested friend." PM Modi said that despite the emergence of different geopolitical equations, "the friendship between India and Russia has been a constant."

The India-US ties could not be better. Statesmanship, mutual benefits and strategic significance decide foreign policy ball games. The US has added India's very own Diwali as a major 'Soft Power' to change the global equations altogether. The US has found itself at the receiving end on the Afghanistan front for obvious reasons. "… those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive; will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay," Joe Biden has said.

NSA Ajit Doval has been busy helping the prime minister run and steers the foreign policy engine room. His counterparts from Russia, Nikolai P. Patrushev and Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani of Iran, attended the 'Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan' on Nov 10. The Foreign Ministers meeting of Central Asian countries was another milestone for Delhi. The deliberations coincided with the OIC meeting in Islamabad.

In the eastern sector, on Dec 22-23, Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla visited Myanmar in what is seen as an important engagement as he raised crucial matters like the Manipur ambush.

This year marked an important calendar year for the India-Bangladesh relationship. While PM Modi visited Bangladesh in March, President Ram Nath Kovind in December was in Dhaka in December. In the words of MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi – "India-Bangladesh Maitri forged in shared martyrdom during the Liberation War, has traversed a 50 year journey towards scripting Shonali Adhyaya (golden chapter) in bilateral relations."