NEW DELHI: The government has moved with “rarely seen” speed and resolve to rebuild India’s partnerships across the world, setting new milestones, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today.
Making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha, she said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign visits have advanced the pursuit of a secure and stable environment that India needs to accomplish its development goals.
These visits will contribute in a significant measure to the mission of accelerating economic growth, boosting investment, creating jobs and transforming the quality of life of our people, she said in a statement on the recent trips of Modi to the US, Myanmar, Australia, Fiji and Nepal.
Swaraj gave details of the engagements and outcome of these visits along with foreign policy engagement ever since the NDA government came to power in May.
“In the past six months, we have moved with speed and resolve, rarely seen in Indian external engagement, to rebuild our partnerships across the world,” she said.
The government has “set new milestones and reached new frontiers in India’s foreign policy. The global response has been just as unparalleled,” the Foreign Minister said.
Giving an overview of the recent developments in India’s foreign policy, she said, “In the last few months, Prime Minister has laid out a clear vision of India’s role and place in the world; signaled willingness to assume leadership expected from the world’s largest democracy; and demonstrated ability to turn commitments into action and convert opportunities into outcomes.”. Swaraj said the Modi government has revived important relationships that have “long suffered from neglect” and “we have shown our will to speak clearly on our security interests and defend them robustly. Our pursuit of global aspirations has been accompanied by global engagement.”
She noted that during the past few months, Modi had met around 45 international leaders from every continent.
“Prime Minister has consistently advocated a proactive and innovative approach to foreign policy that is aligned with our government’s primary goal of accelerating national economic development.
“India needs access to capital, technology, resources, energy, markets and skills; a secure environment, a peaceful neighborhood and a stable world; and an open and stable global trading system,” the External Affairs Minister said.
Talking about Modi’s visit to the US, she said the government’s engagement with that country “helped secure” India’s interests on food security in the WTO and advance the negotiations on the Doha Development Round of WTO.
“This initiative has contributed to strengthening the global trading regime, which is of direct interest to India, without any way diluting our fundamental obligation to protect the interests of our poor,” Swaraj said.
She said that at the heart of the Prime Minister’s engagements abroad have been efforts to promote cooperation on skill development, advance medical research for diseases, like the agreement on research for malaria and TB with the US.
About the region, she said Modi’s strong belief in a shared future of India’s neighborhood reflected in several concrete steps like participation of leaders from neighboring countries at the swearing in ceremony on May 26, his choice of Bhutan as his first foreign destination, and his visit to Nepal, “which was sadly, the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 17 years to our closest neighbor”.–PTI
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