Foreign Policy Challenges for Modi: Economic Times

Economic and other domestic policies typically sway India’s voters, but India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi won his second term by focusing on foreign policy and security issues, explains Raj Kumar Sharma for the Economic Times. Modi must be wary as the United States could expand its trade war with China to other nations like India and the rivalry could spur China’s dominance in Asia. For now, the United States relies on India to help balance China’s influence, but could turn for any number of reasons including trade, purchases of oil from Iran, purchases of Russian military equipment. Also, “another challenge would be to balance between its Indo-Pacific and Eurasian strategies,” he writes. “Indo-Pacific seeks to balance China along with maritime democracies like the US, Japan and Australia while in Eurasia, India would want to deepen relations with Russia and manage differences with China.” India must consider how to handle indications of increasing international acceptance of a political role for the Taliban in Afghanistan as well as the spread of the Islamic State and other extremists into South Asia. US volatility could encourage Chinese and Indian leaders to strengthen ties. India’s economy is growing under Modi, but the essay concludes that India must both protect economic interests while “navigating the complex relations among great and big powers.” – YaleGlobal