Indian Politics & Policy Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2018 | Page 15

Indian Politics & Policy
different interests with various partners
while maintaining a cohesive unity in
our [India’s] overall strategic vision.” 56
As part of this process, in 2015 for instance,
India entered into new strategic
partnerships with Canada, Mongolia,
Oman, Seychelles, the United Arab
Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Realizing
“an economically stronger India
... (whose) voice is heard in international
fora” 57 heightens these abilities, as
will be discussed later on in this section.
Furthermore, and again sustaining the
state’s continued quest for great power
status, “as a government committed to
economic growth ... this is translating
into a growing ability (by the Modi regime)
to take on a more constructive
role in global governance”; 58 an ability
that is commensurate with, and emblematic
of, fulfilling the aim of being
one of the international system’s major
poles.
The first prong of the multipolar
approach has been to ensure better
ties with the other great powers. The
most longstanding of these are with
Russia, which has been a steadfast strategic
partner of India since 1947, providing
it with economic, military, and
political support. 59 Under Modi, and
bolstered by his frequent diplomatic
missions to Moscow in 2015 and 2017,
and a visit by President Putin to New
Delhi in 2016, the relationship remains
“rooted in longstanding mutual trust,
characterized by unmatched reciprocal
support to each other’s core interests.”
60 In 2015, the two sides carried
out joint Russian-Indian naval exercises
in the Bay of Bengal, as well as the IN-
DRA-2015 joint exercises conducted in
Rajasthan involving their ground forces.
In turn, their ties have been progressively
reiterated and upgraded whereby
“the Indian-Russian special and privileged
strategic partnership is a unique
relationship of mutual trust between
two great powers.” 61 Importantly, both
sides subscribe to a similar vision for
the world order that seeks “a multi-polar
international system based on the
central role of the United Nations and
international law, common interests,
equality, mutual respect and non-interference
in the internal affairs of countries.”
62 The commonality of this shared
normative aim thus furthermore intertwines
and characterizes their relations
together.
While Indo-Russia ties have
continued to be strengthened under
Modi, elsewhere the BJP’s diplomatic
approach centered upon assertive pragmatism
has been highly visible toward
China. At the core of the NDA’s attitude
to Beijing is the conviction that
“the two sides believe that the 21 st century
should be marked by peace, security,
development and cooperation.” 63
The two states also share an affinity in
terms of their vision of the global order,
and their status/roles within it. As
such, during Modi’s 2015 visit to China,
both sides agreed to “step up their consultations
on developments affecting
international peace, security and development,
... (and) coordinate their positions
and work together to shape the
regional and global agenda,” 64 which
included cooperation in a variety of
multilateral settings. Furthermore, both
sides have publicly stated that their “simultaneous
re-emergence ... as two ma-
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