Manmohan Singh left a lasting impression on India’s external relations

When the Tsunami hit India on December 26, 2004, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not only faced a serious national tragedy after only a few months at the helm, but it was also a moment when India would be tested at the international level. Contrary to his calm demeanor, Dr. who died on the same day after 20 years. Singh made several bold decisions in the hours that followed, the officers who served with him detailed.

The first was that India would not accept foreign aid and would manage the crisis internally. Second, India will help those affected by the giant waves in the Indian Ocean that claimed over 2,30,000 lives. Within hours, the government evacuated naval and air force missions in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, with a total of 32 Indian ships and 5,500 troops joining the international effort, heralding India’s arrival on the global scene in the form of humanitarian aid and disaster relief. (HADR) First Responder. A third decision was to coordinate regularly with others involved in the effort, particularly the United States, Japan, and Australia, in the meetings that led to the formation of the Quad.

Read this also Manmohan Singh: An outspoken finance minister

However, within a year, Dr. Singh’s government was hit by a political tsunami, even of international proportions, as his foreign minister Natwar Singh had to resign over the Volkar oil-food bribery scandal. He replaced him with his most senior colleague Pranab Mukherjee and later SM Krishna, but Dr. Singh never really relinquished control of Indian foreign policy, and his imprint on each attack was unmistakable. Journalists who spoke to him were always amazed at how closely he followed all the international events, and he frequently invited travelers from one country or other of interest to his 7 Racecourse Road for a cup of tea and serious conversation.

However, he was sometimes criticized by opponents “silence” Or silent, Dr. Singh was an admirable communicator when it came to his foreign policy. He made it a point to speak, off the record, to the journalists he traveled with at least once on any trip to any country. On his return, he almost always held a press conference on board, answering questions about the tour and other moments. At the book launch of his speech in 2018, Dr. Singh referred to this practice while defending himself against accusations of not engaging the media. “I’m certainly not a prime minister who is afraid to talk to the press,” he pointed out.

Two policy breakthroughs

The involvement with Quad, though short-lived until it was revived in 2017, led to Dr. It also paved the way for two of Singh’s greatest foreign policy successes: with Japan, which ended India’s isolation over its 1998 nuclear tests; He started anew. Chapter with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who Dr. referred to Singh as his “guru or guru”. Another was engagement with the United States for a civil nuclear deal. Without agreeing to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Dr. Singh’s team of negotiators succeeded in winning concessions in the Nuclear Suppliers Group that opened the way for India and the US to cooperate in many areas, and became independent. India’s access to nuclear energy. Dr. Singh’s US President George W. His personal relationship with Bush, whom he controversially said in 2008, “the people of India love you deeply,” and with his successor, President Barack Obama, who often called Dr. He praised Singh’s intelligence. And intelligence was a major part of the relationship.

Former Foreign Secretary and Singh’s Special Envoy on Climate Change Shyam Sharan explained how deeply involved the Prime Minister was in the progress of the talks. For example, Dr. Singh went directly to President Bush with the problem on the sidelines of the multilateral summit. Not long after, Mr. Bush instructed his officials to “make it happen.”

In an interview with HinduWhen former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee passed away, Dr. Singh said in a non-partisan moment – ​​very rare in Indian politics these days – that he had followed the path shown by Mr. Vajpayee in two areas. “I have taken the same line as Mr. Vajpayee on relations with the United States and with Pakistan,” he added, adding, “I think relations with our neighbors, including China, are important for India to realize its chosen destiny.”

However, the American involvement Dr. Although bringing Singh accolades, his outreach to Pakistan often ended in disappointment. From the beginning as prime minister, he picked up the 2003 Vajpayee-Musharraf talks, appointing veteran diplomat Satinder Lamba as his envoy for back-channel talks on a peace treaty with Pakistan and a plan to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir issue. As recorded by Mr. Lamba in his book in search of peace, Dr. Singh was clear about the parameters of the agreement – it would include “making borders irrelevant” without any territorial consequences.

In another interview with this reporter just before the 2009 elections, he candidly admitted that the 2008 Mumbai attacks had put paid to any plans for peace with Pakistan. However, he didn’t believe the neighbor had any choice but to keep trying. A decade later, Dr. Singh’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was heavily criticized for not attacking Pakistan in retaliation for terrorist attacks with a clear trail.

However, Sivashankar Menon writes in his memoirs optionsIt was a decision he might not have agreed with himself, but one that paid off in terms of international praise for India’s restraint. The process that began then for accountability is still ongoing, but in the years since 2008, the government has successfully pushed the case for approving Pakistan under the Financial Action Task Force and other countries like the US and the UK. Pressure on Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups. India’s coming of age at the international level, in a sense, came in 2010, when Dr. Singh hosted the leaders of each permanent member of the UN Security Council in Delhi.

Despite the ongoing problems with Pakistan, Dr. Singh continued his efforts to engage with his leaders, meeting Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Geelani and then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. In his drawing room on Delhi’s Motilal Nehru Marg, he pointed to a picture of his native village in Pakistan – gifted to him by President Pervez Musharraf, and he exchanged a photograph with him of Daryaganj, Musharraf’s family home. Nehar Wali Haveli.” Even though it was clear that he would never visit Pakistan as Prime Minister unless the policy on terrorism changed, Dr. Singh gave himself a chance to regret it by expressing his desire to visit his home across the border just once.