Modi Couldn't Change Indian Foreign Policy: The Question Is Why

Narendra Modi's success in foreign policy is credited as one of the reasons for his victory in the May 2019 Indian general election, where he led his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to an even larger majority in the parliament. This is more than a bit unusual because foreign policy is generally thought to have low electoral salience in India. Modi's foreign policy is also thought to have moved India away from some of the shibboleths of the past, such as nonalignment, toward greater realism and pragmatism. Though still shy of an alliance, Modi has moved India even closer to the United States and tentative strategic partnerships with countries such as Australia and Japan that appear designed to counter China's rise. He also appears to have shifted India's traditional reluctance to militarily escalate when dealing with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

Does all this signify that there is now a "Modi doctrine" in Indian foreign policy, or that Indian foreign policy is now on a different trajectory? In his excellent new book Modi and the Reinvention of Indian Foreign Policy, Ian Hall takes a close look at Modi's first term as prime minister (2014–19) and contends that his attempt to transform Indian foreign policy was deeply ideological, motivated by a vision based on Hindu nationalism rather than realism or pragmatism. But Modi's transformational effort has not been successful: Hall argues that "Modi's government did less to change the direction of Indian foreign policy, its foundational assumptions and key practices, than might be suggested by all the drama and noise it generated" (p. 17).

This fits with the traditional consensus about Indian foreign policy—that it has demonstrated great continuity despite changes in government. Changes in foreign policy direction have been gradual, and when such changes do happen, they are sustained by new governments comprising different political parties. Such stability is a cause either for comfort or, more often than not, for frustration. Scholars have suggested a couple of reasons why this is so: some have argued it is the lack of an ideational framework beyond that which India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, provided; others have suggested that India's insular institutional framework and foreign policy's lack of electoral salience have discouraged change.¹

Despite such continuity, there was an expectation that Modi's BJP government would be different and that it would shift the direction of India's foreign policy in a far more consequential manner than previous changes of government. For one, though the BJP had previously ruled the country, it had never held a majority in the parliament on its own and had depended instead on a coalition of smaller parties. In 2014, by contrast, although it was still in a coalition, the BJP by itself had enough seats for an outright majority in parliament's lower house. Moreover, Modi appeared to have far greater control over the party than previous BJP leaders such as former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. And as his term progressed, it was clear that Modi was using foreign policy in a determined and unprecedented way that went beyond the unusual level of energy and attention with which previous Indian leaders had practiced international diplomacy. Indeed, Hall argues that Modi was able to successfully garner domestic political dividends by creating the impression that India was now more internationally respected, with the domestic audience a significant target of this messaging. Why then was Modi unable to transform India's foreign policy? An important reason, according to Hall, was the limitations of Hindu nationalist ideology, which is the focus of a large part of the book.

Hall traces the roots of this ideological vision of India's place in the world, discussing in some detail Hindu nationalist thought and concerns about international politics and security. This is an inconsistent and contradictory mix that included, most importantly, the conviction that Hinduism represents a superior spiritual path to solve the world's problems, with India as the vishwaguru—the teacher of the world. In this vision, rather than on its material power...