India under the Modi government has employed a no-nonsense foreign policy as it seeks to cut the anti-India elements to size. Modi 2.0 is even leaner and meaner and the denial of entry to British MP and rabid India hater Debbie Abrahams is just one of the many steps taken by S Jaishankar led External Affairs Ministry as it protects India’s interests.
When Narendra Modi assumed the office of Prime Minister in 2014, a new dawn in foreign policy was witnessed as India no longer cowered down under international pressure. After extending an olive branch to Pakistan by inviting Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in and an impromptu visit on the latter’s birthday, Pakistan refused to mend its ways and India snapped all talks by stating that terror and talks can’t go together. India also looked China in the eye and refused to cede ground at Doklam.
India’s foreign policy under Foreign minister S Jaishankar has seen the country declaring that it has no tolerance for anti-India elements be it international media, foreign legislators or even state heads.
India severely punished Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir for his anti-India rant at the UNGA by restricting palm oil. Malaysia’s economy heavily depends on its palm oil exports to India. Palm oil accounts for nearly two-thirds of India’s total edible oil imports. India buys more than 9 million tonnes of palm oil annually, mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, followed by Malaysia. Palm oil is crucial for the Malaysian economy as it accounts for 2.8% of Malaysia’s gross domestic product and 4.5% of total exports. A senior official in India’s vegetable oil industry, who did not wish to be named, said the government had asked refiners at a meeting attended by two dozen vegetable oil industry officials in New Delhi to boycott Malaysia.
Turkey’s Erdogan has often sided with Pakistan and took a side which is against India’s best interests. Erdogan drew parallels between the “struggle of Kashmiri people” and the battle of Gallipoli which was fought in Turkey between the Allied forces and the erstwhile Ottoman Empire. The Turkish President remarked that there is no difference between Gallipoli and Kashmir. The comments were made during Erdogan’s 4th visit to Pakistan. This was followed by a strong refutation by India’s MEA, which strictly told Turkey to not interfere in India’s internal affairs.
India has raised diplomatic temperatures with Turkey ever since Erdogan raised Kashmir in his UNGA address last year. There have been multiple diplomatic and trade onslaughts by New Delhi following Erdogan’s misadventure. Among the many, the most significant blow has now been delivered to Turkey. Indian and Armenian Foreign Ministers have held a one-on-one dialogue in the United States. A statement read, “The sides noted that the Armenian-Indian relations have gained a new quality. They stressed the importance of preserving the dynamics of bilateral political dialogue, and expressed satisfaction with their cooperation and mutual support within international platforms.” This move alone should be sufficient to send shivers down the spine of Turkish President and wannabe Khalifa, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This move comes at a time when Erdogan was getting cosy with Imran Khan on a state visit to Pakistan.
India has been tacitly siding with three of Turkey’s enemy nations – Greece, Cyprus and Armenia. As such, in the context of friendly bilateral ties with India, Turkey is the only isolated nation to not have any, while three of its surrounding nations do. Cyprus was violently partitioned by Turkey in 1974, after an invasion, which ultimately led to the Turkish occupation of a major part of Cyprus by the end of the invasion. More recently, Turkey has been trying to occupy parts of what is left of Cyprus and has been at odds with Greece for this reason.
In a bold move, S Jaishankar last year cancelled his meeting with a US congressional delegation after it refused to exclude from the interaction Indian American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who has been critical of the governments recent moves in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to a report in The Washington Post, Jaishankar cancelled the meeting this week after the US lawmakers refused Indian demands to exclude Jayapal, a Democrat who has moved a bipartisan resolution in the House of Representatives criticising the Kashmir clampdown. After the Post report, Jaishankar told ANI: “Don’t think it (Jayapal’s report) is a fair understanding of the situation in J&K or fair characterisation of what Government of India is doing. I have no interest in meeting her.” Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, blinded by their love for freebies and socialism, have ignored the basic lessons of foreign relations as they have repeatedly targeted India over its move on Kashmir. This has prompted India to get closer to President Trump much to the ire of the ‘do-nothing’ Democrats.
Recently, S Jaishankar has been winning the people over social media with his witty and sarcastic replies to his opponents. Just a few days after trolling Ramachandra Guha on Twitter, Jaishankar won praise on social media over witty response to the United States senator Lindsey Graham. The minister was at a session at Munich Security Conference where United States Senator Lindsey Graham said, “When it comes to Kashmir, I don’t know how it ends, but let’s make sure that two democracies will end it differently. And if you can prove that concept here, then I think it’s probably the best way to sell democracy.” Jaishankar responded to this by saying, “Don’t worry, Senator. One democracy will settle it. And you know which one.”
In a move, which clearly states that India has no colonial hangover, UK MP Debbie Abrahams was deported after being denied entry into India. Abrahams who belongs to the opposition Labour Party has been a strong proponent of Pakistan just like the rest of her party and was exposed after being deported as she straight away landed in Pakistan where she can be seen parroting the lines of the Pakistan Military.
As President Trump is scheduled to visit later this month, there are no signs that India will be forced to sign a trade deal to ease the trade tensions between India and the USA despite the fact that the US Secretary of Commerce is a part of the Trump delegation which will be visiting India. S Jaishankar must be commended for following a ‘India-first’ policy.