“ I am ashamed of How Gutless, Spineless Our Government Has Been”, stated noted author and Pulitzer award winner Arundhati Roy on US-Israel war on Iran, while talking on her book Mother Mary Comes to Me on March 9, 2026, in the context of country’s surrender to appease US over unilaterally imposed trade detrimental to the interests of our farms and textile sectors, and repeated humiliation of India by the American President for more than 80 times that he triggered cease-fire between India-Pakistan war during Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister’s state visit to Israel just two days before US-Israel war on Iran, his address to the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) stating that Israel is “fatherland” of Indians, standing in solidarity with Israeli PM, his unexplained silence on the martyrdom of Ayatollah Khomeini, India not condemning war on Iran, explain abject failure of Indian foreign policy.
Other factors are, India’s centuries old cultural and transactional historical ties with Iran. It appears clear that the PM is helpless because of his name along with his cabinet minister’s name, and the name of his close corporate friend figuring in the notorious Epstein Files, and warrant having been issued against his closest industrialist fried, aided and abated by a statement of the US President that he can ruin career of PM any time, but he would not do so, explains surrender of the government. Current presidency of BRICS by India is also in limbo as there is no reaction to the Israel-US war on Iran. PM has hugged nearly every world leader and marketed each handshake as a great personal friendship. But in the 12th year of his stewardship of nation, far from strengthening India’s position, the country looks more isolated on the world stage than ever. This is the cost of a foreign policy built on optics, event management and photo-ops instead of substance, strategy and national interest.
Indian foreign policy since 2014 has faced significant setbacks, characterized by a challenging security environment with China, strained ties in the immediate neighborhoods, and a re-hyphenation of India-Pakistan relations by global powers. Challenges include territorial losses in Ladakh, diminished influence in South Asia to China, and a shift towards an unstable multi-alignment strategy. Key foreign policy shifts include China and border challenges, declining neighborhood influence, strained regional ties, failure to isolate Pakistan, strategic ambiguity and non-alignment shift, saffronised and personalized diplomacy, concern over external pressure.
According to political observers, India has lost control of disputed areas in Ladakh. Numerous meetings with Chinese leadership failed to deter border incursions. Country’s neighborhood influence has declined. Relations with traditional allies like Nepal, Bangladesh and the Maldives have weakened, with neighboring nations expanding ties with China. Policies like the Citizenship Amendment Act and internal matters in neighboring countries have created frictions, while SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) has remained inactive since 2014. India also failed to declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terror, and international partners including Russia, have sometimes recalibrated their positions towards Pakistan.
In addition, there has been strategic ambiguity and non-alignment shift in country’s foreign policy. Accordingly, India moved away from non-alignment to multi-alignment leading to questions about its strategic focus, especially in balancing relations between the US and Russia, particularly following the Ukraine conflict. Other important matter that has destroyed India’s foreign policy have been saffronised and personalized diplomacy, using it for domestic narrative building rather than traditional diplomatic interests. Besides, concerns have been raised over the inability to pursue an independent policy regarding energy security, citing pressures from the US over imports from Iran. That’s how the country’s consistent robust independent non-aligned foreign policy has been overshadowed since 2014!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.