Our Own Global Outlook

Skillful balancing of national interests with the principle of common global good has been the hallmark of Indian foreign policy in the past four years

- Pradip R. Sagar

S. Jaishanka, Minister of External Affairs

SUBRAHMANYAM JAISHANKAR took charge of the ministry of external affairs (MEA) in May 2019; his tenure thus runs parallel to the second term of the Narendra Modi government. Within months of his taking charge, the Centre turned Article 370 into a dead letter and bifurcated the state of Jammu & Kashmir into two Union territories. A storm of protest rose from China and Pakistan, and while many countries supported India's move, many others, including several Islamic countries, UK, Canada and the EU, expressed concerns. As both China and Pakistan attempted to raise the issue at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the former foreign secretary ran a massive campaign, in person during his visits to Europe and the US, and mobilising India's foreign missions elsewhere, to impress upon the international community that New Delhi had Kashmir's best interests in mind and-vitally-that it was an internal matter of India.

That its word carried weight was a measure of its new esteem. The size of India's economy is a factor here, but not a sufficient one. Esteem is an abstract value that has to be generated through a variety of diplomatic means. Take the Covid-19 pandemic. The MEA, partnering with other departments, marshalled resources to help other countries. During the peak of the first wave in 2020, India's medical diplomacy saw it supplying paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine to 120 affected countries. In January 2021, under India's Vaccine Maitri programme, Covid vaccines were sent to countries in dire need of them-till now, around 160 million doses of vaccines have been given to 96 countries.