BJP’s embarrassing ‘u-turns’ on Bangladesh and Nepal

New Delhi’s de facto blockade of Nepal choked the nation’s economy, cut off its oil supplies, created genuine hardship and provoked a groundswell of hostility among ordinary Nepalis. This, and the behaviour that accompanied the episode, was a blunder of such Himalayan proportions that the only country on earth whose relationship with us has been fraternal enough for us to maintain open borders with it, now mutters about turning towards China instead.

Telling then, of the current strain in relations, is the fact that once Prime Minister KP Oli was sworn into office for the second time on February 15 this year, the first leader to visit his country was his Pakistani counterpart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

One astute observer told me privately that “PMO took its eyes off the ball”. But when decision-making has been so centralised in the Modi regime that every ministry has to send its important files to the PMO for clearance, how many balls can Mr. Modi and his beleaguered minions keep their eyes on?

India’s mess in Nepal adds to the growing sense of disquiet amongst students of Indian foreign policy about the Modi government’s management of relations on the subcontinent. A combination of arrogance and ineptitude is all-too-often visible where subtlety and pro-active diplomacy could have delivered the desired results. A raid into Myanmar in hot pursuit of terrorist sanctuaries had six precedents under the UPA, but each had been shrouded in a discreet silence; the Modi government chose to announce their one raid with such bellicose rhetoric that it embarrassed Myanmar, the violation of whose sovereignty New Delhi was trumpeting. Relations with three of our neighbours – Pakistan, Nepal and most recently, the Maldives – are worse than they have ever been. If we don’t soon embark on a serious course correction, the only question will be who we are going to alienate next.

There have been successes, but these have almost entirely been in areas where Mr Modi and his party chose to follow the path already laid by successive previous governments without upsetting the delicate balance upon which this balance rested.

One of the Prime Minister’s greatest achievements is that he has reversed the BJP’s formal opposition in Parliament to the Indo-US Nuclear Deal and to the seminal Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh—both of which were UPA initiatives and both of which were wise policy reversals by the NDA Government of the positions the BJP had taken in opposition.

In the election campaign, Modi had breathed fire and brimstone about Bangladesh, accusing it of sending millions of illegal immigrants into India and promising that the moment he won the election, they would all have to “pack their bags” and leave India for home

Source: https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/shashi-tharoor-rips-into-narendra-modi-foreign-policy-pa