Is India shining again? See how world leaders are making a beeline to India

It may not be officially dubbed as “India Shining” but Brand India is certainly making waves in the international community at a time when the Indian polity is in a tailspin and general elections are round the corner. [caption id=“attachment_1306441” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was chie fguest at the R-Day celebrations. AFP[/caption] Forget the fact that India is in the midst of a major power transition and on the cusp of a general election which promises to be the most closely contested ever. Forget the fact that Manmohan Singh is effectively a lame duck Prime Minister and just a couple of months away from retirement after being the head of the government for a decade. Also forget the fact that no one can accurately predict the composition of the 16th Lok Sabha and the shape of the new government in Delhi which would be in place by May 2014. Despite the unpredictable Indian politics in the midst of general elections, foreign dignitaries are making a beeline to India. Consider the following facts. This month alone, a large number of foreign dignitaries from Africa, North America, Europe and Middle East visited India. Ali Mohamed Shein, President of Zanzibar, paid a long visit to India (1-9 February). While Shein was still here, German President Joachim Gauck arrived for a six-day visit (4-9 February). A few days after Gauck left Indian shores, another high profile foreign visitor arrived – Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (18-20 February). Visits from two other high-profile foreign dignitaries are currently in progress: Dmitry Mezentsev, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (23-25 February) and David Johnston, Governor General of Canada (22 February-2 March). Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud who is the Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister, and Defence Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be on an official visit to India from the 26th to the 28th of February. He is expected to be accompanied by a high-level delegation including Cabinet Ministers, senior officials, and captains of industry and will meet the top brass of Indian government, including the Prime Minister. The day Saudi Prince lands in New Delhi, yet another high profile foreign visitor will be here: Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who co-chairs the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission. Rogozin is coming here for an inter-sessional meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission which will be co-chaired by Rogozin on the Russian side and with External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on the Indian side. This is the first bilateral interaction between Russia and India following the summit meeting between Russian President Putin and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Moscow in October 2013. Rogozin will be accompanied by four Deputy Foreign Ministers. The focus areas of the discussion are likely to be energy, trade, economic cooperation, space and cultural cooperation. A day after Rogozin’s talks with his Indian interlocutors, Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif will be in India on 27th and 28th of February to have discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues. Last month India had hosted a President, a Prime Minister, two foreign ministers and a King and Queen. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in India (25-27 January) and was the first Japanese premier to be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade. South Korean President Park Geun-hye was here on a crucial bilateral visit (15-18 January). Even while she was on the Indian soil, India hosted Madhav Prasad Ghimire, Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs (14- 16 January). Around the same time, Senegal foreign minister Mankeur Ndiaye was in India from 14-17 January. Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck were on a state visit to India (6-10 January). United States Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz is due here on 10 March for an important and much-delayed bilateral visit and for the next round of Indo-US Energy Dialogue. What is happening? The UPA government may have been tempted to declare that India is, after all, shining. But it is unlikely to go to the electorate with that populist election slogan considering how the “India Shining” slogan badly backfired on BJP-led NDA government a decade ago in the 2004 general elections. It only connotes two things. One, India has arrived on the world stage as a major power which can be ignored only at the risk of those who choose to do so. Irrespective of who is going to be the next Prime Minister of India and what will be the shape of the Indian government, the world, both the near-abroad and the far-abroad, is very much interested in connecting with India. Two, it shows that diplomacy is work in progress and India’s vibrant diplomatic engagement with the world and the to-and-fro high-level visits only go to show that India is poised for a giant leap forward in the coming years. The writer is a Firstpost columnist and a strategic analyst who tweets @Kishkindha.