Signs of India under Global Re-Focus

A flurry of quick new glances at India from different sections of the international community reflects a surge of interest in a country freshly under Narendra Modi’s leadership of anticipatory assertiveness. The re-emerging importance of India is evident from at least four new developments – the Chinese President’s Special Envoy Wang Yi’s talks with Mr Modi in New Delhi on 9 June 2014; the fleeting but firm focus on India at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in late-May and early-June; the unusual presence of several South Asian leaders at Mr Modi’s prime ministerial inauguration on 26 May; and earlier US President Barack Obama’s invitation to the new Indian leader to visit Washington. It is now up to India to make the best of this renewed global attention by focusing on the country’s economy and diplomacy. And the current signals from New Delhi do indicate that such priorities have been recognised. Moving forward, strategic stability in India and its neighbourhood is possibleonly through China-India-Pakistan cooperation (not just dialogue) at one level, and ChinaIndia-US-Japan cooperation at another echelon.