New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi is certainly a newsmaker, and often he does so by his faux pas or taking up issues which ultimately boomerang.
Such was an instance when he tried to drag India’s Ministry of External Affairs into an unwarranted debate and tried to echo the line that Indian foreign ministry mandarins have turned arrogant.
Of course, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar – a suave diplomat-turned-politician-gave him back.
“Yes, the Indian Foreign Service has changed. Yes, they follow the orders of the Government. Yes, they counter the arguments of others. No, it’s not called Arrogance. It is called Confidence,” Dr Jaishankar tweeted, countering Rahul Gandhi and also added – “And it is called defending National Interest”.
The changes in Indian foreign policy after Modi became PM have been debated earlier as well. It started in 2014 when the PMO became a deciding engine room, along with then EAM Sushma Swaraj. In 2019, after Jaishankar took charge, things only got a boost.
“The impact of India’s foreign policy cannot be judged until the results are in. What we can see now is the government’s understanding of the changed world dynamics, its updated political, economic and security interests, and the pursuit of multiple new means to advance them,” said Peter Lavoy, a former senior official in the Obama administration in 2019 September.
He also shared his message saying, “I have studied India for 30 years, when its foreign policy was largely hesitant, reactive and ineffectual. My takeaway from Dr S Jaishankar is that India now has a firm grasp of its interests around the world and an assertive, self-confident and purposeful strategy to advance them.”
The ‘dynamic’ but election-losing Congress leader might have missed all these.
Here is another.
The remarks from Jonathan Woetzel, a director of the McKinsey Global Institute, are also worth reflecting.
“For years, observers have breathlessly discussed Asia’s future potential. The future has arrived. We have entered the Asian century,” Woetzel said in 2019.
All these came when Rahul Gandhi lost two subsequent elections, his traditional voters in Amethi also deserted him, and he had to look for a virtual shelter in Kerala and in a Muslim-stronghold constituency.
There is no gainsaying to point out that as Dr Jaishankar, in the last few years, shared his views on Kashmir’s situation and India’s positioning on major global issues before all top think tanks in America and any other platforms.
Today, the ‘change’ and foreign policy dynamics are also reflected in India’s enhanced acceptability, despite New Delhi taking an independent stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
‘New India’ is today a key ally of the US and other western countries and a key member of the Quad comprising Japan, Australia, the US and India.
Truly, India is wielding more power on the world stage today than it has done even a decade back. By 1998, India was already a nuclear power, and some assertiveness became visible even under Modi’s illustrious predecessor and the first BJP Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
People talk about a resurgent India, a confident ‘New India’ with nationalistic commitment.
In Nepal’s Lumbini, where Lord Buddha was born, PM Modi last week said that coming together of India and Nepal in more ways than one can help the entire humanity.
Modi’s style and characteristics wow people, and people like Rahul Gandhi may only live with their negativity.
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