PRIME minister Narendra Modi had visited 18 countries in his first 12 months in office. Incredible! as, on an average, it makes one country for every 20 days! No wonder apologists for the BJP and Modi are trying to project 'foreign policy' as the government's biggest achievement. If one peels through the layers of 'event-management' that went into each of these visits, one can easily find that the 'core' of the foreign policy is 'rotten', if not empty.

Some of the major trends that can be discerned from the BJP government's foreign policy are – increasing proximity towards the US, further strengthening of relations with Israel at the cost of our traditional solidarity with the Palestinian cause and steadily moulding our policy towards 'containment of China'.

CLOSER TIES

WITH THE US

In this one year, Indian foreign policy was further inclined to suit the strategic goals of the US. It is ironic that for the first time in our independent history, the president of the US, a country which is in war with other countries 93 percent of the time since its independence, was asked to be the chief guest of our Republic Day. The visits of Modi to US and Obama to India were used to reassert the strategic relationship between India and the US. From the joint-statements released, it is clear that the BJP government had succumbed to the pressures of the US and further laid open our country's economy and resources for exploitation. In the process, the famed independent foreign policy of our country that had won laurels from the entire comity of developing countries was conveniently discarded.

Defence cooperation with the US has got further deepened with the approval of the purchase of US attack and heavy lift helicopters. US has, thus, become India’s largest supplier of arms in the past five years. The BJP government cemented this relationship with the US by signing for an extension of the US-India Defence Framework Agreement (DFA) for another ten years, ie, till 2025. The US is unashamedly open about its needs for ensnaring India into its embrace: “We want a friend in 2020 that will be capable of assisting the US military to deal with a Chinese threat. We cannot deny that India will create a countervailing force to China”. The DFA was designed to further this aim.

Through the DFA, the US succeeded in enlisting India for a long term military collaboration. It sets out joint military exercises, multinational missions abroad, missile defence cooperation, defence trade purchases and ensures interoperability between the two armed forces. The Malabar joint naval exercises with the US have now become an annual event. Similar exercises with other wings of the armed forces – army and air force are steadily expanding. The net result of this subservience is, the US had the largest number of military exercises with India compared to any other country.

The moot point is, our country was forced into this unequal relationship with the US by our government, without accruing any net gains from the bargain. A set of new projects announced under the Defense Technology & Trade Initiative (DTTI) underscore that this relationship is heavily one-sided, favouring the US. India is not getting the expected dividends, either strategically or in terms of advanced technology.

The 'Asia pivot', doctrine pushed by Obama, clearly states that the US intends to station 60 percent of its navy in the Asia-Pacific region, so that it can intervene in the region, control the trade routes and contain China. The US-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean Region, drags India into this design, by explicitly mentioning that both the countries share 'common interests in the South China Sea'. Washington Post (September 28, 2014) clearly spelt out US interests on India: “In strategic terms, there are few countries more important to Washington than India, the dominant power in the Indian Ocean region and, with Japan, the most important US partner in Asia seeking to limit Chinese assertiveness in the region”. It is to serve these interests that the current BJP government is eagerly entering into US' embrace, extending its 'political support for spreading democracy'. We are well aware of how the US intends to 'spread democracy' from what we are witnessing in Iraq, Libya, Syria and now Yemen. Shamelessly, the BJP government is pushing our country into this bloody enterprise.

The BJP government was willing to sign agreements to share classified information and sensitive technology with the US. This was in fact agreed by the earlier BJP government led by Vajpayee, but could not materialise as it lost power before the nitty-gritties could be worked out. Despite the eagerness of the UPA government to move closer to the US, it was forced to shelve these agreements. Now that the BJP is back with a majority of its own, it is eager to give life to them, unconcerned that world-over there is widespread resentment against the US spying and snooping on governments and citizens. Moreover, it precisely wants to hand over all such information on a platter, without 'troubling' the US with spying or snooping.

JOINING HANDS

WITH ISRAEL

Another significant 'achievement' of the BJP government in its first year in office is deepening of ties with another 'thug' in West Asia, who blatantly violates all the UN resolutions – Israel. India has now become the largest purchaser of Israeli armaments amongst all countries in the world and thus, the largest financier of Israeli military attacks on the Palestinians! Modi has openly and enthusiastically embraced the Jewish State, as, when he was unwelcome to many countries for his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, it was Israel that had invited him to their country and now that he has become the prime minister, it is 'pay-back' time.

Never has Indian foreign policy lost its face than at the time when Israel had launched its most brutal attack on Gaza, in July-August last year, killing 2200 Palestinians including 550 children. India,  that had historic relations with Palestine, right from our days of freedom struggle, for the first time failed to unreservedly condemn the Israeli aggression. The foreign ministry statement expressed its concern over “cross-border provocations” targeting Israel, and this is a complete about turn from the past official declarations that had instinctively denounced Israeli actions. The BJP government rejected a parliamentary resolution seeking to condemn Israel over the attack on Gaza.

The pro-Israeli stance of the BJP can be traced to its Hindu fundamentalist ideological roots, which see a favourable example of a religion based nation in Israel, akin to their own dream of the Hindu Rashtra, and are on the same wavelength with the Zionists in terms of fanaticism, ultra-nationalism and anti-Islamic feelings.

The foreign policy of the BJP government is more about event-managements and wooing the NRIs (who are being given voting rights) rather than pursuing a strategic vision of deepening our relations with the developing countries, strengthening our bonds with our neighbours and standing against the bullying tactics of the imperialist countries.

The recent statement of the defence minister (terrorists to fight terrorism), does neither help in combating terrorism nor in building better relations with our neighbours. The aggressive fundamentalist, communal rabble rousing by the ruling party members and the 'Sangh Parivar' is further aggravating tensions in the region and does not augur well for maintaining peace. On the top of it, the contradictory statements given by the government on China and Pakistan, does not send the right signals about its intentions to mend bridges with these countries, irrespective of the theatrics of the prime minister.

India was always looked at as a champion of the interests of the developing countries, either in the negotiations on climate change or on trade related to agriculture and other allied products. But with the BJP government in power and eager to prise open the country for FII and FDI, never before have the developing countries lost their faith on our country, thanks to the subservient foreign policy pursued by the current dispensation.