Understanding Modi’s flight plan

The PM’s visits indicate a shift in priorities and partnerships

Hopscotch in diplomacy can be a sign of confusion, but in India’s case, it is an indication of multiple interests. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest international itinerary — France, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and France again — is a tale of three major international priorities of his government.

The first and most immediate is containing the international reaction to the ending of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. France has emerged as the most consistent supporter of India at the United Nations and other forums on the trickiest of issues. The Abu Dhabi royal family has been influential in ensuring a large part of the Arab world has remained neutral, and even supportive, of India’s Kashmir shift. That Mr Modi will be given the Bin Zayed award amid the present furore is telling. At the G-7 summit on his return trip to France, Mr Modi will get an opportunity to directly make India’s case to three permanent members of the Security Council, and all major western governments. The PM will have to explain to US President Donald Trump that his chances of buying Greenland are greater than his chances of becoming mediator on Kashmir. The double French stopover is a reminder of a longerterm shift in India’s partnerships. Over the past several years, Russia has become less dependable, largely because of Moscow’s increasing closeness to Beijing. The US has been diplomatically supportive, but India is mindful that a superpower will always have multiple interests, and no country can hope to be more than first among equals in such a relationship. France has worked hard to fill the resulting geopolitical space the past five years. Mr Modi rightfully has made it a point to shake hands with French President Emmanuel Macron whenever possible.

An even longer timeline is evident in the visit to Bahrain. The emirate is only the latest of the Persian Gulf States to indicate its interest in investing a chunk of its $20 billion sovereign wealth fund into the Indian economy. The motivation is both commercial and strategic. Indian diplomacy today plays on more levels than it has ever done before, sometimes with the same country, and often in an interconnected manner that requires an even more complicated flight plan.