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Structure and Change in India’s Foreign Policy: A

Case Study of Bharatiya Janata Party Government
under Narendra Modi

Submitted by:
Md. Firoz Alam Ahmed
Introduction

India had developed trade and cultural relations with foreign nations since ancient time. We have
references of Chandragupta Maurya having diplomatic ties with Greek Empire and Asoka’s
cultural ties with South East Asia and Sri Lanka. Besides, India developed cultural ties with
China through the propagation of Buddhism. After independence in 1947, India has come a long
way in its foreign policy from Nehru’s idealism which includes Non Alignment Movement,
Panchsheel and India’s over reliance on USSR for international support during cold war to
economic liberalization in 1990’s after the disintegration of USSR which is followed by Gujral
doctrine in 1996. Along the way the character and the ideology of various Indian Prime Ministers
starting from non alignment policy during Jawaharlal Nehru to active alignment with the west
during Narendra Modi played an important role in shaping Indian foreign policy.

A large paradigm of scholarship on India’s foreign policy behaviour postulates that in the
last two decades a distinctive change can be observed in the way India has conducted its external
relations. This change has been categorised under various denominations: some call it an
infusion of realism into the idealism of yester years especially the ‘practical idealism’ of
Nehruvian period (Ganguly 2011); others refer to it as the pragmatist challenge to the otherwise
traditional foreign policy decision-making. Clearly, from either side of the spectrum –
mainstream or critical – of foreign policy analysis seem to agree that real change has occurred in
India’s foreign policy behaviour.
A number of foreign policy analysts claim that the coming of the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) into power at the centre from 1998 to 2004 and in 2014 under Narendra Modi is a major
factor behind this change in India’s foreign policy. Modi's election in May 2014 was widely
viewed as signifying a more decisive phase in the country's foreign policy, especially after he
launched his tenure as prime minister with a flurry of overseas visits to large and small powers
alike. The question, therefore, which this study seeks to answer, is: did BJP under Prime Minister
Narendra Modi change India’s foreign policy? Has his foreign policy been effective in achieving
India’s national interest?
 Two important reasons explicate the rationale behind the proposed study. First, this
study will explicitly test the assertions made by a number of foreign policy scholars that BJP
changed India’s foreign policy. Their logic for such assertions mainly follow the argument that
issues like India-China, India-Pakiskan and India’s nuclear policy were most susceptible to
change, given BJP’s ideological position – masculine hindutva and rabid nationalism – under the
rule of the BJP government. Second, if in fact a real change has occurred as concluded by some
scholars, the proposed study will seek to explain the change brought about by the BJP in India’s
foreign policy and how that change was effectuated.
To achieve the stated objectives, this study shall focus on a single case: foreign policy
making under the rule of the BJP especially after Modi coming to power in 2014. Even though
the study concentrates on a single case, five issue areas – India’s nuclear policy, India-US
relations, India-Israel relations, India-China-Pakistan relations and relations with India’s
neighbouring countries – within the case study have been identified as possible areas of research
to elaborate on the research puzzle of change and continuity in India’s foreign policy under the
Modi regime. Lastly, even when the BJP factor is removed from the analysis, there is a
consensus within the community of scholars of Indian foreign policy that perceptible change has
occurred in all these five frontiers of Indian foreign policy with the end of the Cold War. One of
the compelling reasons to pursue a systematic, methodologically sound and rigorous enquiry of
India’s foreign policy behaviour of Modi government is that being the current Prime Minister his
foreign policy decisions will have serious consequences in the coming decades for the future of
India in the International arena.

Literature Review
The intention in this section is to survey the existing literature on the question of whether
BJP changed India’s foreign policy to the extent that some initial hypothesis can be derived, gaps
in literature be indentified and a suitable research design can be formulated. According to Achin
Vanaik (2002), BJP during Vajpayee was able to change the content and texture of Indian
foreign policy substantively by bringing uniformity in the culturally essentialist character of
Indian society” and second by militarising Hinduism and Hindu society. While he also claims
that BJP’s foreign policy is situated in it’s chauvinistic, militant and communal ideology. The
question is how much has Modi continued Vajpayee’s policy or is his foreign policy just an
extension of the previous Manmohan Singh government? Rajesh Basrur (2017) in an article in
International Affairs argues that there is no significant shift from Vajpayee rule in the use of
power arising from the ‘Hindu’ content in Modi's foreign policy; that his approach to the major
powers reflects continuity (with some variations) by way of a focus on strategic partnerships; and
that the quest for status is in line with the strategy pursued by previous prime ministers.

India’s nuclear policy: Nuclear tests are an important indicator of the change which BJP
brought in India’s foreign policy during Vajpayee rule. Even Christopher Jaffrelot contends that
“a new kind of power politics” is visible in India’s foreign policy with the coming of BJP, most
evident in India’s nuclear nationalism. Vanaik opines that the decision to undertake nuclear tests
is fundamentally associated with the ideology of the Sangh Parivar, the influential ideologue
which supports the BJP (Vaniak 2002). Rajesh Basrur on Nuclear Weapons and India’s
Strategic Culture finds a high level of continuity in the nuclear postures adopted by the BJP
government with India’s historical position on nuclear weapons; both are governed by the
principle of nuclear minimalism. While addressing at the launched of indigenous nuclear armed
submarine, INS Arihant, Modi assured the international community that India will continue to
maintain its commitment to no-first-use policy addressing the international concern.

India-US: With regard to the US, the era of strategic partnership started after 9-11 with India’s
unconditional support to the US after decades of maintaining strategic autonomy. The
relationship reached new height during the UPA government when the civil nuclear deal was
signed in 2005 between the two countries. India’s policy of forging close ties with US and other
western countries continued after Narendra Modi led BJP government came to power in 2014.
However, Shashi tharoor cautioned Modi of interfering in American election by way of
organising Namaste Trump rally in Ahmadabad just before the US Presidential election as it
could backfire in future if democrat comes to power.

India-Israel: On India-Israel relations, BJP is accused of having relinquished the Palestine issue
altogether because of increasing India’s defence dependence on Israel and expanding the
military-to-military relationships with Israeli defence forces. According to Vinay Kaur(2019),
after Modi coming to power India has become even closer to Israel which is driven by the Hindu
nationalist affinity with the Jewish State for civilization and political reasons. The BJP has
celebrated the British Indian conquest of Palestine and shares with Israel the sentimental
relationship that two nations are the victim of terrorism emanating for the Islamic world. The
BJP’s position on Israel-Palestine issue is a complete deviation from previous UPA
government’s sympathetic view of the Palestinian cause. And this change is highlighted when
India chose to abstain from voting in the UN bodies on alleged Israeli war crimes and violation
of Palestinian religious freedom. And for the first time, India voted alongside Israel in the UN
ECOSOC to oppose the grant of observer status to Palestine in 2019.

India-China: As far as India’s equation with China is concerned, since the late 1980s, both
countries have successfully rebuilt diplomatic and economic ties after Indo-China war in 1962.
In 2008, China became India's largest trading partner and the two countries have also extended
their strategic and military relations. According to Alka Acharya(2015), significant hurdles
have deterred the progress towards normalization, namely, the issue of Tibet, the China–
Pakistan alliance, the contested boundary, and the role of other major powers.
The relation further deteriorates when Chinese army crossed into India and occupied
Galwan Valley. Malone (2011) argues that perception of a China rising arrogantly, rather
than mostly in harmony with its neighbour is not without merit. China has outstanding
border and maritime dispute with most of its neighbours which it tries to settle by force.
It’s claimed on entire South China Sea and push for Belt and Road Initiative for global
dominance are in sync with its global ambition. With recent border skirmished resulting in the
dead of soldiers on both sides for the first time since 1975 has plunged the relations to even more
low. It remains to be seen how Modi manage to navigate between India’s ambition to become
major global power and China’s lurking threat to India with its massive economy.

India and its neighbouring countries: In an article in Foreign Policy, Sumit Ganguly set out an
entire essay on hit and miss of Modi’ neighbourhood policy. One of the major policy initiative
Modi undertook soon after coming to power was the “neighbourhood first” policy that he
announced in 2014. In May 2014, shortly after being elected to office, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi invited his counterparts from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, and Nepal,
Pakistan, and Sri Lanka— members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC)—to his inauguration.  In June 2014, he picked the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan for
his first foreign visit as prime minister. But despite this very promising start for regional
relations, New Delhi went on to somehow worsen relations across the board.
The project, had it come to fruition, would have given a much-needed boost to regional
trade and investments and led the way in addressing geopolitical tensions. It would have also
provided a natural—and lasting—bulwark against China’s relentless attempts to expand its
footprint across the region, especially with its Belt and Road Initiative.
The scholarship on India’s foreign policy is huge. Different writers, authors and
commentators have written extensively on the subject. Mention may be made of ‘From
Chanakya to Modi’ by Aparna Pande, ‘India’s Foreign Policy’ by Sumit Ganguly, ‘Full
Spectrum’ by Arjun Subramanium and the host of other important books. Shashi Tharoor, Achin
Vanaik, Roman Shahi, Happymon Jacob, Rajesh Basrur, Pratab Bhanu Mehta etc have regularly
commented on India’s foreign policy in journals and newspaper articles.

Definition and scope

This study can be defined as an attempt to study change and continuity in India’s foreign policy
during the rule of Vajpayee government and the Modi government and also the continuity from
the UPA government and the Modi Government. This study builds on the claim made by several
analysts, observers, scholars and practitioners of Indian foreign policy that the coming of BJP
into power changed India’s foreign policy and seek to test these assertions in the light of
empirical evidence provided by five issue areas: India’s nuclear policy, India-US, India-Israel
relations, India-Pakistan-China relations and India’s neighbourhood policy.

Research Questions
1) What role does BJP’s ideology plays in India’s foreign policy decision-making? What are
those factors which led to change or continuity in India’s foreign policy under the Modi
regime?
2) Does India’s increasing engagement with the US and the West serve India’s national
interest given the recent hostility between US and China?
3) How far has Modi’s policy of balance of power with China and Pakistan been successful?
 4) How does BJP’s indutva ideology influence the current India’s relations with Israel?

5) Has India’s “neighbourhood first” initiatives announced by Modi in his inauguration as

Prime Minister of India in 2014 been successful?

Hypothesis
The hardline hindutva ideology of BJP under Narendra Modi has been instrumental in shaping
the current foreign policy of India. India’s foreign policy initiatives are designed to achieve its
due international recognition of a big power status and to meet the changing needs of the India’s
national interest in the international politics.

Research Methods
The proposed study is motivated by a puzzle in contemporary Indian foreign policy: what was
the role of BJP in reorienting India’s foreign policy? The research will use both qualitative
method which will be exploratory in nature and quantitative method. The study would rely on
primary as well as published secondary sources. The first category, viz. primary source material,
consists of statements issues on behalf of the government of India, explaining from time to time
India’s foreign policy under the Modi led BJP rule. Often these statements have come from the
Prime Minister in parliament or at press conferences or at international conferences and bilateral
visits. All these statements can be located at the Parliament library: the Lok Sabha debates and
Rajya Sabha debates. Evidence can also be found in news paper reports, editorials of major
dailies, writings of major actors in foreign policy decision-making and various other official
documents. In terms of theoretical assessment the research will borrow from the literature of
critical foreign policy studies and the academic works of foreign policy analysts.

Tentative Chapters

Ch. 1: Introduction
This chapter will serve to introduce the main thrust of the research. It would involve a brief
exposition of the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions of the study. It would discuss the state of
existing debates on the issue and would bring out the gap therein.
Ch.2: Modi factor in India’s foreign policy
This chapter would try to examine how influence has the Indian Prime Minister been in steering

Indian foreign policy toward change? Ever since the Narendra Modi government came to power
in India in May 2014, there has been a debate in the policy and academic community about its
foreign policy. While some argued that Modi is fundamentally altering the trajectory of Indian
foreign policy, most disagreed.

Ch.3: India-US Relations

This chapter would seek to see the transformation in Indo-US relations from the view point of
the BJP and how the Modi led BJP government went on reinvigorating the bilateral relationship.
It will explicate the major foreign policy decisions taken by the BJP government with respect to
India’s relationship with the USA and what role did the BJP played in changing India’s bilateral
relationship with the US. This chapter will also briefly cover India’s evolving relations with
other western countries especially with Britain after Brexit.

Ch.4: India-Israel relations

This chapter would concentrate on India’s relations with Israel under the Modi government. It
will explore the changing dynamics of bilateral relationship between India and Israel and how
India’s increasing defence cooperation with Israel is affecting its deviation from its position on
Palestine-Israel conflict in the BJP rule and will explicate how and to what extent BJP was able
to transform India-Israel relations.

Ch.5: India’s foreign Policy towards China and Pakistan under the BJP
This chapter would concentrate on India’s bilateral relations with China and Pakistan under the
BJP government. It will explore the dynamics of India-China relations and will explicate how
and to what extent BJP was able to transform India-China relations and India-Pakistan relations.

Ch.6: Conclusion and Implications

This chapter would bring out the major finding of the study and would enlist its important
implications for the contemporary Indian foreign policy.
References

1. Vanaik, Achin(2002). “Making India strong: the BJP-led government's foreign policy
perspectives”, South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 25: 3, pp. 321–41
2. Basrur, Rajesh(2017), “Modi's foreign policy fundamentals: a trajectory unchanged”
International Affairs, Volume 93, Issue 1, 1 January 2017, Pages 7–26,

3. Malone, David (2011). “Does Elephant Dance? Contemporary Indian Foreign Policy”,
Oxford University Press, Oxford: New York, 129-152

4. Acharya, Alka(2015), “China”, in David Malone, Raja Mohan and Raghavan, Srinath
(eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Indian Foreign Policy, Oxford University Press: New
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5. Ganguly, Sumit(2011)(eds.), "India's Foreign Policy: Retrospect and Prospect” Oxford:

India.

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