PM MODI EMERGES AS PEACEMAKER IN RUSH TO WORLD WAR

As PM Modi made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel a few days ago, India seeks a peace where terror is absent, and will be available should both sides desire an end to the conflict.

- MADHAV NALAPAT

Since 2014, when Narendra Modi replaced Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister of India, the country has been termed non-aligned by several policymakers in Washington and as aligned to the US by Beijing. In actuality, what has been done since then is to pursue a policy of alignment with the national interest of India. As a consequence the policy of alignment with the interests of India that has been followed for the past ten years, is being repeated in the third term of Prime Minister Modi. Earlier in his term, the four foundation agreements underpinning defence ties with the US have been signed. These are LSA (Logistics Support Agreement), GSOMIA (General Security of Military Information Agreement), BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Intelligence) and CISMOA (Communications and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement). At the same time, under the triumvirate of Shinzo Abe, Donald Trump and Narendra Modi, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue has been expanded and deepened, such that India, Japan, Australia and the US have emerged as the preeminent security providers in the region, ensuring a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. Simultaneously, India has retained its historically close relationship with Russia, while in 2023, as Chair of the G-20, PM Modi was able to include the African Union (AU) into the fold, making it the G-21. Plurilateral, bilateral, unilateral, multilateral, each such grouping is adopted depending on the national interests of India.

Since 2014, India has been anchored to a consistent policy of alignment with the national interest of the world's most populous country, which has moreover been a democracy since the country won freedom from the British Raj in 1947. As a consequence, South Block has a collaborative relationship with both Ukraine as well as Russia, as also with both Iran as well as Israel.