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India’s commitment to share its capabilities with the world amplified its role as ‘’Vishwa Bandhu ’’ in 2024
2024 has been a tumultuous year. Global uncertainty continues without any indication as to what the final complexion of the global economic, strategic and security architecture is going to be.
In the background of such a scenario, it is useful to assess how India has conducted its foreign policy and promoted its security and economic interests in 2024.
Re-election of the NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided predictability in the continuation of the confident and assertive foreign policy by India over the coming five years. This was reassurance to India’s partners that India will continue to actively follow the policy of multi-alignment, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Vishwa Bandhu that it has pursued for the last ten years.
Relations with the US and Quad
Possibly the most significant event on the Indian foreign policy firmament was the bilateral visit by PM Modi to Washington DC in September, 2024 at the invitation of President Joe Biden.
The 4th in-person, and 6th overall, Summit meeting of the Quad countries also took place during the visit. These meetings as well as the bilateral interactions with the Japanese and Australian PMs on the side-lines of the Quad meeting went a long way to further expand the strategic ties between the four partner countries. The robust statements issued by the leaders demonstrated their commitment to ensure the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific region and make Quad a ‘’Force for Global Good’’ in the Indo-Pacific region.
The year also witnessed the election of the US President in November, 2024. Donald Trump won convincingly and emphatically. The US election result sent a wave of nervousness amongst several significant powers in the world. Trump’s nominees for the top positions in the administration are his loyalists, and China, Russia and Pakistan hawks. Most of them are well disposed towards India.
PM Modi was one of the first world leaders to call up Trump and congratulate him on his historic victory. After his conversation with Trump, PM Modi said that he looked ‘’forward to working closely together once again to further strengthen India-US relations across technology, defence, energy, space and several other sectors.’’
Because of the huge convergence of strategic interests between the two countries as well as the presence of a large and influential Indian diaspora in the US, and the positive chemistry between PM Modi and President-elect Trump, India is looking forward to Trump 2.0 with assurance, hope and expectation. India is cognizant of the fact that trade and tariffs could pose a challenge but it is confident that it will be able to handle these hiccups effectively and skilfully.
Ties with Russia
The other significant development during the year was the Prime Minister’s stand-alone visit to Russia in July, 2024 for the India-Russia Annual Summit. This was the first visit by PM Modi to Moscow after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022. In late August, he travelled to Ukraine.
India has refused to criticise Russia for its attack on Ukraine and has significantly enhanced its off-take of discounted oil from Russia. India is acting as an honest messenger communicating the positions of the two countries to each other. As momentum to end the conflict grows with Trump’s assumption of power in the US, India could play a useful role in bridging the chasm between the two countries.
PM Modi visited Russia again to participate in the BRICS Summit in Kazan in October, 2024. India is not a supporter of de-dollarization but would continue to promote trading in national currencies, rather than working towards a common BRICS currency.
Engaging China
Just before PM Modi’s travel to Russia for the BRICS Summit in October, 2024, it was announced that after several meetings between the Army Commanders and diplomats of the two sides over the last four years, India and China agreed to revert to situation that prevailed before April, 2020 regarding restoration of patrolling and grazing rights in the final two friction areas of Depsang and Demchok. This allowed the first structured meeting between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the side-lines of the BRICS Summit after a gap of 5 years.
This is a small but significant movement in relations between India and China. The huge trust deficit in India about Chinese intentions still prevails and it will be some time before the bilateral ties start normalizing.
Partnering the Global South
Taking forward its role as the Voice of the Global South (VOGS), India organised a third virtual VOGS Summit in August, 2024. PM Modi hosted the Inaugural Leaders’ Session. With the participation of countries representing over 60% of the world’s population, the Summit reinforced the centrality of the Global South in India’s collective pursuit of a future that is inclusive for all.
The Neighbourhood: Immediate and Extended
Another positive development was the visit by Sri Lankan President Anura Kumar Dissanayake, popularly known as AKD, to India from December 15-17, 2024. This was his first visit after decisively winning the recent Presidential and Parliamentary elections, demonstrating that Sri Lanka attaches the highest importance to its ties with India. It was an extremely substantive visit which took forward the bilateral ties to new heights. During his visit, President Dissanayake categorically announced that Sri Lanka will not allow its territory to be used in any manner inimical to the security of India.
Relations with Maldives had faced considerable stress with the call of ‘’India Out’’ by the incoming President Mohamed Muizzu during his election campaign in November, 2023. Demonstrating its strategic patience, India inter alia invited Muizzu to the swearing-in ceremony of PM Modi after being elected to a successive third term. Muizzu again visited India on a bilateral State visit in October, 2024 when he invited PM Modi on a State visit to Maldives next year.
Muizzu termed India as a ‘’valued partner’’, expressed gratitude to the Indian government for offering a bailout to help avert a debt crisis, and lauded India as the “first responder” that has “stood by the Maldives during our times of need.” Stabilization and normalization of relations with Maldives, an important neighbor and maritime partner, is a demonstrable success of India’s ‘’Neighbourhood First’’ and ‘’Sagar’’ Policies.
The special relations with Bhutan received due attention through PM Modi’s visit in March, 2024 and visits of the Bhutanese King and PM to India in December and March, 2024 respectively.
Relations with the ASEAN got a boost with PM Modi’s visits to Laos for the East Asia Summit, Brunei and Singapore, as well as incoming visits by the Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Vietnam. West Asia continued to be a focus of attention with visits by PM Modi to UAE and Qatar in February, 2024, and of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to India in September, 2024.
Some Distant Shores
PM Modi’s visit to Guyana and meetings with the Caribbean leaders provided a significant impetus to our ties with a distant but significant region.
India’s ties with Europe saw a marked uptick with the visits of PM Modi to Italy (for the G7 Summit), Poland and Austria, and visits of French President Emmanuel Macron (as the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day on January 26, 2024), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez and the Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis to India.
The Hiccups
The first hiccup surfaced when Canadian PM Justin Trudeau made serious but unsubstantiated allegations against India of its involvement in the killing of a Canadian Khalistani terrorist. India strongly repudiated these charges, withdrew its High Commissioner and five other diplomats from its High Commission in Ottawa and expelled the Canadian Acting High Commissioner and five other diplomats. Relations between the two countries are at their lowest ebb ever.
The second roadblock was the coup in Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, resulting in PM Sheikh Hasina’s flight from Dhaka to India in the face of violent student protests. Following Hasina's ouster, a series of communal attacks have occurred, particularly targeting Hindus in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Interim Government Chief Advisor Mohamed Yunus and his officials maintain that media reports of persecution of minorities are highly exaggerated. This has further encouraged the perpetrators to continue their violent actions with impunity.
During his visit to Bangladesh on December 9, 2024, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri informed all his interlocutors ‘’that India desires a positive, constructive, and mutually beneficial relationship with Bangladesh.’’ India has thus far followed a calibrated approach. It is hoped that Bangladesh will soon work to restore ties with India which have suffered exceptionally since August, 2024.
Conclusion
In this period of turmoil, India has continued to pursue a confident foreign policy and reached out to the world to engage America, manage China, cultivate Europe, reassure Russia, bring Japan into play, draw neighbors in, extend the neighborhood and expand traditional constituencies of support. India’s commitment to share its capabilities with the world, particularly partner countries of the Global South, amplified its role as ‘’Vishwa Bandhu ’’ in 2024.
***The writer is a Distinguished Fellow at Ananta Aspen Centre; he was India’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Sweden, and Latvia; views expressed here are his own.
In the background of such a scenario, it is useful to assess how India has conducted its foreign policy and promoted its security and economic interests in 2024.
Re-election of the NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided predictability in the continuation of the confident and assertive foreign policy by India over the coming five years. This was reassurance to India’s partners that India will continue to actively follow the policy of multi-alignment, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Vishwa Bandhu that it has pursued for the last ten years.
Relations with the US and Quad
Possibly the most significant event on the Indian foreign policy firmament was the bilateral visit by PM Modi to Washington DC in September, 2024 at the invitation of President Joe Biden.
The 4th in-person, and 6th overall, Summit meeting of the Quad countries also took place during the visit. These meetings as well as the bilateral interactions with the Japanese and Australian PMs on the side-lines of the Quad meeting went a long way to further expand the strategic ties between the four partner countries. The robust statements issued by the leaders demonstrated their commitment to ensure the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific region and make Quad a ‘’Force for Global Good’’ in the Indo-Pacific region.
The year also witnessed the election of the US President in November, 2024. Donald Trump won convincingly and emphatically. The US election result sent a wave of nervousness amongst several significant powers in the world. Trump’s nominees for the top positions in the administration are his loyalists, and China, Russia and Pakistan hawks. Most of them are well disposed towards India.
PM Modi was one of the first world leaders to call up Trump and congratulate him on his historic victory. After his conversation with Trump, PM Modi said that he looked ‘’forward to working closely together once again to further strengthen India-US relations across technology, defence, energy, space and several other sectors.’’
Because of the huge convergence of strategic interests between the two countries as well as the presence of a large and influential Indian diaspora in the US, and the positive chemistry between PM Modi and President-elect Trump, India is looking forward to Trump 2.0 with assurance, hope and expectation. India is cognizant of the fact that trade and tariffs could pose a challenge but it is confident that it will be able to handle these hiccups effectively and skilfully.
Ties with Russia
The other significant development during the year was the Prime Minister’s stand-alone visit to Russia in July, 2024 for the India-Russia Annual Summit. This was the first visit by PM Modi to Moscow after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022. In late August, he travelled to Ukraine.
India has refused to criticise Russia for its attack on Ukraine and has significantly enhanced its off-take of discounted oil from Russia. India is acting as an honest messenger communicating the positions of the two countries to each other. As momentum to end the conflict grows with Trump’s assumption of power in the US, India could play a useful role in bridging the chasm between the two countries.
PM Modi visited Russia again to participate in the BRICS Summit in Kazan in October, 2024. India is not a supporter of de-dollarization but would continue to promote trading in national currencies, rather than working towards a common BRICS currency.
Engaging China
Just before PM Modi’s travel to Russia for the BRICS Summit in October, 2024, it was announced that after several meetings between the Army Commanders and diplomats of the two sides over the last four years, India and China agreed to revert to situation that prevailed before April, 2020 regarding restoration of patrolling and grazing rights in the final two friction areas of Depsang and Demchok. This allowed the first structured meeting between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the side-lines of the BRICS Summit after a gap of 5 years.
This is a small but significant movement in relations between India and China. The huge trust deficit in India about Chinese intentions still prevails and it will be some time before the bilateral ties start normalizing.
Partnering the Global South
Taking forward its role as the Voice of the Global South (VOGS), India organised a third virtual VOGS Summit in August, 2024. PM Modi hosted the Inaugural Leaders’ Session. With the participation of countries representing over 60% of the world’s population, the Summit reinforced the centrality of the Global South in India’s collective pursuit of a future that is inclusive for all.
The Neighbourhood: Immediate and Extended
Another positive development was the visit by Sri Lankan President Anura Kumar Dissanayake, popularly known as AKD, to India from December 15-17, 2024. This was his first visit after decisively winning the recent Presidential and Parliamentary elections, demonstrating that Sri Lanka attaches the highest importance to its ties with India. It was an extremely substantive visit which took forward the bilateral ties to new heights. During his visit, President Dissanayake categorically announced that Sri Lanka will not allow its territory to be used in any manner inimical to the security of India.
Relations with Maldives had faced considerable stress with the call of ‘’India Out’’ by the incoming President Mohamed Muizzu during his election campaign in November, 2023. Demonstrating its strategic patience, India inter alia invited Muizzu to the swearing-in ceremony of PM Modi after being elected to a successive third term. Muizzu again visited India on a bilateral State visit in October, 2024 when he invited PM Modi on a State visit to Maldives next year.
Muizzu termed India as a ‘’valued partner’’, expressed gratitude to the Indian government for offering a bailout to help avert a debt crisis, and lauded India as the “first responder” that has “stood by the Maldives during our times of need.” Stabilization and normalization of relations with Maldives, an important neighbor and maritime partner, is a demonstrable success of India’s ‘’Neighbourhood First’’ and ‘’Sagar’’ Policies.
The special relations with Bhutan received due attention through PM Modi’s visit in March, 2024 and visits of the Bhutanese King and PM to India in December and March, 2024 respectively.
Relations with the ASEAN got a boost with PM Modi’s visits to Laos for the East Asia Summit, Brunei and Singapore, as well as incoming visits by the Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Vietnam. West Asia continued to be a focus of attention with visits by PM Modi to UAE and Qatar in February, 2024, and of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to India in September, 2024.
Some Distant Shores
PM Modi’s visit to Guyana and meetings with the Caribbean leaders provided a significant impetus to our ties with a distant but significant region.
India’s ties with Europe saw a marked uptick with the visits of PM Modi to Italy (for the G7 Summit), Poland and Austria, and visits of French President Emmanuel Macron (as the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day on January 26, 2024), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez and the Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis to India.
The Hiccups
The first hiccup surfaced when Canadian PM Justin Trudeau made serious but unsubstantiated allegations against India of its involvement in the killing of a Canadian Khalistani terrorist. India strongly repudiated these charges, withdrew its High Commissioner and five other diplomats from its High Commission in Ottawa and expelled the Canadian Acting High Commissioner and five other diplomats. Relations between the two countries are at their lowest ebb ever.
The second roadblock was the coup in Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, resulting in PM Sheikh Hasina’s flight from Dhaka to India in the face of violent student protests. Following Hasina's ouster, a series of communal attacks have occurred, particularly targeting Hindus in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Interim Government Chief Advisor Mohamed Yunus and his officials maintain that media reports of persecution of minorities are highly exaggerated. This has further encouraged the perpetrators to continue their violent actions with impunity.
During his visit to Bangladesh on December 9, 2024, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri informed all his interlocutors ‘’that India desires a positive, constructive, and mutually beneficial relationship with Bangladesh.’’ India has thus far followed a calibrated approach. It is hoped that Bangladesh will soon work to restore ties with India which have suffered exceptionally since August, 2024.
Conclusion
In this period of turmoil, India has continued to pursue a confident foreign policy and reached out to the world to engage America, manage China, cultivate Europe, reassure Russia, bring Japan into play, draw neighbors in, extend the neighborhood and expand traditional constituencies of support. India’s commitment to share its capabilities with the world, particularly partner countries of the Global South, amplified its role as ‘’Vishwa Bandhu ’’ in 2024.
***The writer is a Distinguished Fellow at Ananta Aspen Centre; he was India’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Sweden, and Latvia; views expressed here are his own.
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