Modi's Hillary: Sushma Swaraj shows she's the PM's best performing minister

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has proved yet again why she is the best performing minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, though the likes of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley are decidedly much closer to the PM. The latest corroboration, if at all needed, came on 31 May when she held a freewheeling press conference where  she disclosed her success mantra: keep working but keep away from the media. She scored a perfect ten in her annual presser and emerged as a knight in shining armour for PM Modi as she defended him from repeated barbs from journalists about his frequent foreign trips. During her introductory remarks first she gave an elaborate primer of the Modi government’s achievements in its first year in office in the field of foreign policy and then she took questions (from 45-odd journalists) and wasn’t stumped even once.  In contrast, just two days earlier her cabinet colleague Home Minister Rajnath Singh had committed a major faux pas at his press conference in New Delhi where he had said that India had entered an agreement with France to make nuclear weapons in India as part of PM Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign. [caption id=“attachment_2272064” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Swaraj at the press conference on 31 May. PTI image[/caption] Not only were there no such Himalayan blunders by Swaraj, but she also deftly responded to all questions without a single glitch. Officials in the know disclosed to this writer that she had prepared so hard for her press conference that she was ready to answer questions about even the Haj programme, but no questions on this were asked. In response to a question from Firstpost on what had changed on the ground to warrant India deciding to play a cricket series with Pakistan when the dialogue process is still to resume, Swaraj responded that no cricket diplomacy had been decided as yet, and there was no flip-flop in the Modi government’s Pakistan policy. “We are ready to resolve all issues (with Pakistan) in a peaceful manner through dialogue. The dialogue will be between two sides, no third party will be there or present in the talks; and talks cannot be held in the shadow of violence and terrorism, only in the atmosphere of goodwill. There is no change in our policy … no flip-flop. We have told this to Pakistan always,” she said. She dismissed the public perception of her being dwarfed and overshadowed by a pro-active PM Modi. “A proactive PM is a support, not a challenge. I take it as a support,” she said. She also dismissed the conspiracy theories in this context and said, “The prime minister has not put any restrictions on anyone, least of all me.” Swaraj cited figures to argue that the new government’s hands-on foreign policy was the result of team work and wasn’t any individual’s fiefdom. She said the Modi government had engaged with 101 countries with 162 engagements in its first year. She also pointed out that while the prime minister had visited 18 countries during this period, she herself had visited 21 countries and her deputy VK Singh had visited 17 countries. She also revealed that, in a first, PM Modi will be undertaking an official visit to Israel. No Indian PM has so far visited Israel, a country usually considered as pariah due to the fears of a backlash from Islamic nations and the Muslim community. But the Modi government has revealed that it is going to fashion its foreign policy in an iconoclastic manner. She said that she herself would be visiting Israel later this year, along with Palestine and Jordan as part of a clever counter-balancing. Swaraj has consciously kept a low profile and scrupulously avoided the media. She asserted that she is going to continue in a similar manner in the future as well. It is a clever political strategy adopted by her as she has willingly played the second fiddle in India’s foreign policy. Swaraj has deliberately ceded space to PM Modi knowing fully well that India’s foreign policy is being orchestrated and choreographed by the PMO, not her ministry. Swaraj has quietly kept herself backstage and let PM Modi bask in the media arc lights even though she is more pro-active. Call it a wily surrender. Call it a tactical retreat. Call it what you will. The bottom line is that she has purposely and consciously emulated Hillary Clinton and let PM Modi emulate President Barack Obama in the Indian context. Like Clinton, Swaraj is not going to fade away any time soon. She is just biding her time – not unlike Clinton. *The writer is a Consulting Editor with Firstpost and a strategic analyst who tweets @Kishkindha.