Will Narendra Modi’s Leadership make India a Global Player in World Politics? Narendra Damodardas Modi is the 15th and current Prime Minister of India who assumed office on 26th May 2014. He is ranked the ninth most powerful man in the world 2018 according to Forbes Magazine. His charismatic and dynamic personality captivated the masses and his skills did not fail to impress other world leaders as well. No matter what the critics say, Modi government has enabled India to acquire the center stage in world politics. The continuous application of Modi’s foreign policy, i.e. the Modi Doctrine, India is climbing the ladder to earn the status of the next superpower.
Will Narendra Modi’s Leadership make India a Global Player in World Politics?
"Once we decide to do something, we can go miles ahead"
Narendra Damodardas Modi is the 15th and
current Prime Minister of India who assumed office on 26th May 2014.
He is ranked the ninth most powerful man in the world 2018 according to Forbes
Magazine. His charismatic and dynamic personality captivated the masses and his
skills did not fail to impress other world leaders as well. No matter what the
critics say, Modi government has enabled India to acquire the center stage in
world politics. The continuous application of Modi’s foreign policy, i.e. the
Modi Doctrine, India is climbing the ladder to earn the status of the next
superpower. The Prime Minister has spent a significant amount of time in his
first year in office improving the quality of India’s engagement with the world.
He hasn't made any major policy turnarounds, but his out of the box approach to
diplomacy has made all the difference. However, many critics have argued that
these trips have done more harm than good. Hence, it is essential to explore
both the negatives as well as positives of Modi's leadership.
The countries to be visited are strategically
drawn out based on its geopolitics, resources, etc. The first step towards the
growth of foreign relations was witnessed when the SAARC countries:
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri
Lanka were invited to attend Modi's swear in ceremony as India's 15th Prime
Minister. Even the quest for improving foreign relations was not a part of
Modi's mandate; he has pursued this task emphatically. After assuming office,
he took a whirlwind tour of 26 countries followed by Belgium, Saudi Arabia and
Tehran in 2016. He has made all the effort to make India's presence felt on the
world stage.
Even with rampant poverty and corruption
present within the country, there is no denying the fact that the world's
largest democracy is poised to earn a superpower status. There are three parts
to Modi's plan that support this argument. He aims to transform the economy,
infrastructure and exploit its geopolitical advantage:
The first aspect of his plan which involves
the economy aims to revamp India's restrictive business regulations and create
a free market for the efficient flow of goods and services between boundaries.
According to the International Monetary Fund's data, the country has already
outpaced Japan as the world's third largest economy in terms of purchasing
price parity (PPP). In addition to this, the falling oil prices have ensured
that the country will not become a victim of inflation and also enable the
country to cut its costly fuel subsidies. Apart from this, the country has
attracted a large amount of foreign direct investment that made India the
biggest grosser of the same in the first half of 2015. It attracted a foreign
investment of over 31 billion dollars. After the launch of the Make in India
Initiative in September 2014, the FDI policy for 25 sectors was further
liberalized and it increased the FDI flow by 48% as per the 2015 figures. It is estimated that
Japan invested a huge fund in both public as well as private sectors due to the
presence of a stable interest rate and liberalization of FDI policy to increase investment caps.
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The second aspect of Modi's
plan is to improve India's national infrastructure, in which he tried to
attract a huge foreign fund to ensure its improvement along with the provision
for sale of infrastructure bonds to banks. India also attracted a 20 billion
infrastructure investment from China. Also, India has realized the potential of
its human capital resource and is heavily investing in them to ensure the full utilization
of an individual's capabilities. India, being the hub of education and
information technology professionals has attracted 16,245 crore in the form of
FDI in the computer and hardware sector.
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The third aspect of Modi's
plan is to make use of India's geopolitical advantage. Since his election, Modi
has made a concerted effort to strengthen ties with Russia, Japan and the U.S.
For each of them, India is a valuable trading partner with a vast consumer base
and labor pool waiting to be tapped. But even more significant is the strategic
importance of its alliance with all those nations. The countries are the part
of a dependency theory of sorts. Modi is being diplomatic; but he is also
keeping his options open to forge partnerships that will maximize the benefit
to India, both financially and politically.
The Ministry of External Affairs is also
praised for its work undertaken by its minister Sushma Swara who has actively
made use of various social media platforms to address people's grievances. Even
the top executives of leading enterprises like Microsoft, Facebook, Pepsico and
Amazon have visited India to discuss their future prospects and growth within
the country in terms of technology and other sectors.
However, there are two sides to this
argument. Many critics claim that a huge sum of taxes paid by the citizens of
the country is going towards financing these trips undertaken by the Prime
Minister. It is estimated that around 41.01 crore was spent in 2015 by Narendra
Modi. What India needs is a change within the country which will itself attract
foreign investment. China can be considered as an example of this doctrine. The
Chinese leaders first aimed to improve the country from within which is what
India needs to do in order to become a global actor. The Modi Government is
very focused on improving its relations with other countries and is distracted
from governing the nation.
Another important aspect of governance in any
nation is that every leader is seeking personal gains for the growth of their
respective nations. Therefore, their investment in India implies that soon they
will also demand something in return and the short term positivity received by
India from around the world would start taking a reverse path. Evidences
suggest that India has made very little progress in terms of improving poverty,
education and corruption and hence, there is very little scope for the
efficient use of the investments made by foreign countries. It is very probable
that India will not perform to its maximum potential in terms of making use of
its resources as the issues at the grassroots level is not being addressed.
Therefore, it is true
that India is being recognized as an emerging global power with many
superpowers lending a helping hand in the form of investments and cultural
meets. But it is up to the mechanisms, set in place within the nation that will
ensure that India reaches its maximum potential as a nation and makes the
maximum use of their resources. It is crucial to recognize that is not just
Modi's leadership that will help India to reach the superpower status but also
the Cabinet of ministers, bureaucrats, policy formulators, implementers and
analysts that will ensure the attainment of the same.
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