Poonam Sharma
Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Prime Ministership of India between 1998 and 2004 was a watershed moment for the country’s foreign policy. Vajpayee was a pragmatist, an optimist, and an ardent believer in India’s exceptionalism, and he was adept at straddling continuity and change. He was one of the few leaders who successfully walked the tightrope between being a disruptor of foreign policy and being a realist. His policies, informed by a career spanning decades in Parliament and as External Affairs Minister in the Janata Party government of 1977, continued the Nehruvian tradition even as they took bold new turns. In so doing, he changed the direction of the foreign relations of Bharat both in the region and at the international level.
Vajpayee’s early political life influenced his diplomatic perspective. As External Affairs Minister in 1977, he assisted in re-tuning India’s relations with the Soviet Union from the country’s de facto alignment with Moscow to a more balanced approach of “proper non-alignment.” This was an unambiguous change in India’s Cold War policy, in keeping with the international mood following the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and Indira Gandhi’s rule. The policy change was in consonance with the wish of Prime Minister Morarji Desai to distance India from the “special relationship” with any particular nation, bequeathed by Indira Gandhi.
Even as the Janata Party government lasted only briefly and was plagued by internal political instability, Vajpayee’s understanding of India’s strategic interests was evident. His policy was not ideologically motivated but was defined by realism. As Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko suggested to Vajpayee during a meeting in 1977, Moscow was willing to allow India to develop better relations with the US and China, which signaled the prospect for realigning foreign policy towards more independent alignment.
But it was as Prime Minister in the late 1990s that Vajpayee really made his mark. In the wake of Bharat’s nuclear explosions in 1998, which enraged the US and its allies, Vajpayee shocked the world by proclaiming in a speech in New York that India and the US were “natural allies.” With a moment of bravado, he put India and the US as the forces that are converging towards each other on the basis of common global challenges. In the midst of howls from the US over India’s nuclear ambitions, this declaration appeared to be almost taunting. However, it was proved correct. It was an announcement that started reconfiguring bilateral ties, reaching its peak with President Bill Clinton visiting India in 2000. Vajpayee’s foresight in transcending short-term controversies and looking for long-term strategic relationships was characteristic of his distinct foreign policy vision.
It was his unshakeable conviction in India’s exceptionalism that set Vajpayee apart. Embedded in its civilizational tradition and informed by the wounds of colonialism, Vajpayee viewed Bharat as a country with a singular duty on the world stage. In contrast to Jawaharlal Nehru, who positioned India’s uniqueness in the framework of internationalism, Vajpayee referred to the nation’s profound cultural and historical roots. His orations, such as his iconic UN General Assembly speech in 1977 when he spoke in Hindi, emphasized his determination to project India as a civilization whose values could provide a distinctive vision in the international context.
This exceptionalism was reflected in Vajpayee’s approach to Pakistan. In spite of the long-standing animosity between the two countries, Vajpayee made major efforts towards reconciliation. His 1999 trip to Lahore to see Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was a courageous effort at normalization. Vajpayee’s belief in bilateral talks, as demonstrated by the Lahore Declaration, was based on his conviction that countries could not select their neighbors but could select the manner in which they interacted with them. Sadly, the good will behind his overtures was disappointed when Pakistan’s military mounted the Kargil invasion, undercutting the efforts at peace.
In the face of this disappointment, however, Vajpayee’s commitment to peace did not waver. As he has subsequently mentioned, in his Asia Society speech of 2000, Bharat’s policy toward Pakistan had always been guided by generosity of spirit as seen in how India has pursued the Shimla Agreement and all other such proposals. Yet there was not one whit of naïveté; Vajpayee realized fully the nature of Indo-Pakistani relationships. His acknowledgment of the deep state’s pull in Pakistan, which was more hostile than conciliatory in nature, was a reality check.
Correspondingly, the Vajpayee government’s strategy towards China, while punctuated by big leaps in shoring up the relationship, too mirrored his pragmatist mind. His regime institutionalized the modus vivendi for resolving the contentious boundary issue by enacting a mechanism of a ‘Special Representative’.
This instrumental framework continues to be a prime characteristic of the India-China dynamic today, though the bilateral relation has been charged by recent incidents of border sparring.
Vajpayee’s term also redefined India’s position in the world. His foreign policy was marked by its capacity to balance realism with optimism, being pragmatic in its approach to international relations while being optimistic about the possibility of cooperation. This was best seen in his attempts to bridge the gap with the US, even after the initial hostility over nuclear tests, and his emphasis on regional cooperation in South Asia, especially with Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
In summary, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee legacy of foreign policy is a balance of continuity and transformation. His strategic vision, conviction in India’s exceptionalism, and readiness to pursue both adversaries and friends make him a statesman of extraordinary vision. His foreign policy strategy—firmly rooted in realism but sustained by optimism—has been an inspirational beacon for his successors. Although Bharat’s foreign policy has changed over time, Vajpayee’s legacy still shapes the path the nation follows on the international scene.
The post Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Architect behind the Modern Foreign Policy of Bharat appeared first on Global Governance News- Asia's First Bilingual News portal for Global News and Updates.
