THE BRICS summit has started at Fortaleza and Brasilia in Brazil. Narendra Modi assigns a pivotal role to his foreign policy. He will meet leaders from the US, China, Russia and Japan among others. He seems to have taken a Nehruvian role in global affairs. Nor has he broken away from the guiding principles of Manmohan Singh’s foreign policy. There will no doubt be a shift in priorities, however. Some western countries had decided to avoid Modi when he was chief minister of Gujarat because of the 2002 massacre. Modi is not likely to forget it and has already shown great interest in East Asia. The question is whether or not his Near Abroad stand will betray a big brotherly attitude in that region. He should strike a balance between East and West. The BRICS summit is guided by economic diplomacy. But there are rifts in the lute. Brazil may object to the Indian government’s subsidy to the local sugar industry at the WTO. There are also other differences between the two countries.
The world today is multi-polar. Indian foreign policy must take that into account. Over the next few weeks Modi will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinza Abe. The relationship between the two countries is far from amicable. But India has to strengthen its ties with both countries. Modi’s role will be to maintain a balance in a multi-polar world. And he will visit the US shortly. That will be a crucial encounter in view of Washington making a song and dance about granting him a visa to the US.
