Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s week-long trip to France and the United States in the first half of February was particularly worthy of note, given his country’s growing importance on the world stage.
In the elections the Aam Aadmi Party (Common Man’s Party), led by ambitious populist politician Arvind Kejriwal, which had led the capital city’s government for two consecutive terms, suffered a heavy defeat. Its representation in the local parliament was reduced from 62 seats (based on the 2020 election results) to 22. For the oldest party, the Indian National Congress (INC), whose de facto leader is Rahul Gandhi (representing the Nehru-Gandhi political clan, whose role in the history of India in the 20th century can hardly be overestimated), the elections ended in a disaster. It failed to win even a single seat.
This latest setback once again calls into question the trend that was set following last spring’s general elections namely a revival in the INC’s fortunes after it had hit rock bottom. That is exactly what the picture had looked like for the entire previous decade. Meanwhile, that trend was, apparently, confirmed by the results of subsequent elections to the local parliaments of several administrative units. But the Delhi elections, as we have noted, again put the prospect of the INC’s recovery in doubt.
The triumph of the BJP and its leader, now ruling India for a third consecutive term, is particularly striking when compared with the INC’s latest failure. However, the BJP and Modi also face problems (tribal wars in the northeastern states, the resurgence of Maoist Naxalites and Sikh separatists, farmers“ protests, …) of the kind which are inevitable in such a huge and highly complex country as modern India. But the results of the elections in the capital once again confirmed the BJP’s status as ruling party and its worthy representative in the international arena.
Narendra Modi’s three-day trip. Modi to France and the situation in Europe
Under the conditions of “discord and hesitation” that characterize the political situation on the European continent, all three leading Asian powers, i.e. China, India and Japan, are all the more keen to influence its further development in a favorable way. These countries are clearly aware of the continuing importance of Europe’s overall (economic, cultural-historical, military, …) potential.
NEO has frequently commented on the various developments evidencing the increased attention paid to European affairs by each of the above Asian powers. In addition to Narendra Modi’s visit to France, discussed here, it is worth noting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s tour of several countries on the continent, which began two days later. A Japan-UK ministerial on economic issues in the 2+2 Format is scheduled for March. In turn, the leading European countries are (again, each in its own way) seeking to expand their contacts with the new global “centers of power” that are emerging in Asia.
All these signals between Asia and European, in both directions, are creating an extremely complex picture, which is in a state of continuous transformation. An important element in this picture was Narendra Modi’s most recent trip to France, during which he participated in several events. In Marseille, he attended the inauguration of an Indian consulate and also visited the cemetery where Indian soldiers who died in the European theater of both world wars are buried.
In Paris, Narendra Modi attended the opening of the first of a series of conferences scheduled this year on the challenges that arise as the practical application of advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) expands. And in Paris, during his latest meeting with President Emmanuel Macron, the two sides reaffirmed their intention to continue to promote the all-round development of relations between India and France.
On the margins of the AI conference, Narendra Modi had his first meeting with the number two figure in the new US administration, Vice President James David Vance.
Visit to the US
But the most important step in the process of building a relationship with the US took place, of course, during Narendra Modi’s subsequent visit to this country and his meeting with the recently reinaugurated US President Donald Trump. The two leaders met several times during Trump’s first presidency, when the trend towards the comprehensive development of US-India relations, which had already emerged at the beginning of the noughties, was further developed.
In this regard, it was very symbolic that Narendra Modi was the third leader (after Benjamin Netanyahu and Shigeru Ishiba) to hold direct talks with Donald Trump after his return to the US presidency. It’s worth noting the relatively positive atmosphere of the meeting of the two leaders in Washington, despite the demonstrably harsh expulsion from the United States of a group of Indian illegal migrants from the United States, which caused understandable emotions among the Indian public.
The negotiations resulted in the adoption of a wide-ranging Joint Statement which touches upon all aspects of bilateral relations, as well as the most significant aspects of the situation in the Indo-Pacific region. Those interested in the state and prospects of U.S.-India relations would do well to read it in its entirety rather than just looking at excerpts. Here it’s worth reiterating only the fact that the US President’s MAGA slogan features in the excited comments on the results of the meeting between Donald Trump and Narendra Modi.
On Russia’s place in a changing Europe
The trip to France of the Prime Minister of a country that is among the small number of major participants in the current stage of the Great World Game serves as a suitable occasion to discuss the prospects of Russian-European relations. It is important to bear in mind that, despite the objective motivation for the shift towards Asia in the Russian Federation’s foreign policy course, it is an inescapable fact that our country belongs to the European continent. And, consequently, the question of the nature of Russia’s relations with other European countries will never lose relevance.
In this regard, it is nothing but a historical falsification (or, at best, a half-truth) that Western Europe has, for centuries, aspired to “destroy holy Russia”. The same can be said about the concept of “Russophobia”, which in Europe is hardly more pervasive than Germano, Franco, Anglo, Polono or other such “phobias”.
Unfortunately, in recent years, the main problem of Russian-European relations has been the conflict in Ukraine, which has interrupted (and almost literally, in the case of the North Stream 2 pipeline) undermined the potential for promising cooperation between the main European countries. But now, in order to restore them, Europeans will have to unseat the anti-European bureaucracy, the Brussels branch of which is, for some reason, still represented in Moscow. However, Russia, too, needs to focus on its own problems without getting too involved in global ones.
All of us today are living in a completely new world, which is hard to compare with anything else in history. One illustration of this new world order is the increasingly significant emergence of the three leading Asian powers on the world stage. The international tour by the Prime Minister of one of these countries, and its outcome, as discussed in this article, is very much part of this process.
Vladimir Terekhov, expert on the issues of the Asia-Pacific region