Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s seemingly spontaneous trip to Pakistan on Friday only vindicates the view that slowly and steadily, he is rewriting the rule book of diplomacy.
In a surprise move, Modi on his way back from Kabul to New Delhi Friday, made an unscheduled stopover in Lahore to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on his birthday. Sharif received him at the Lahore airport with a hug.
The duo then left by helicopter for Sharif’s family home at Jati Umra in Raiwind, Lahore.
“Am personally touched by Nawaz Sharif Sahab’s gesture of welcoming me at Lahore airport and coming to the airport when I left,” Modi tweeted after his visit.
By focusing on personal relations, doing the unpredictable and relying heavily on symbolic gestures, Modi is also creating diplomatic space for himself to manoeuvre in difficult relationships.
This was not the first such instance.
Since taking charge as prime minister in May 2014, Modi has changed the way diplomacy is conducted—some of it symbolic.
Even before becoming prime minister, Modi invited leaders of all South Asian neighbouring countries to his inauguration. He got US President Barack Obama to be chief guest at the Republic Day parade this year.
In September, he took a walk on the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad with Chinese President Xi Jinping and, in December, attended evening prayers on the banks of the river Ganga in Varanasi with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.
“This chemistry between leaders is natural because they know it is important in today’s age to break free from the traditional ways of diplomacy. It not just gives them a personal connect but also gives them enough room to use that to manoeuvre during tense situations. And PM Modi clearly understands this and his efforts in the last one-and-a-half years shows exactly that. He knows the importance of developing a personal rapport with important partner countries,” said former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh.
Analysts say the surprise factor also helps reset the terms of engagement.
“Public conversation, including talks with the media, whether it is pro or anti, somehow seeps into diplomatic talks and colours it unknowingly. Modi is trying to break this predictability of foreign visits and meetings,” said Shivraj Parshad, founder, Brewis Consultancy, a communication agency that gives training in public speaking and media management.
News about the prime minister’s stopover in Pakistan surfaced just hours before the actual visit when Modi wrote about it on Twitter. It was very much like the meeting between the national security advisers of India and Pakistan in Bangkok earlier this month, details of which were disclosed only after the meeting.
The Modi-Sharif meeting on Friday once again revived hopes of a new chapter in the two countries’ relationship, which was marred by the cancellation of national security adviser-level talks earlier this year. The two leaders had a brief meeting on the sidelines of the climate summit in Paris last month which too had not been announced.
“Modi is trying to add symbolism to each and every diplomatic relationship, which he is hopeful will get real results beyond just announcements of a joint declaration. In the case of Pakistan, he is clearly pushing the envelope, sticking his neck out and saying that ‘Look, I am here’. Essentially, he is throwing the gauntlet in their court,” Parshad added.
However, there is scepticism too.
Shiv Visvanathan, a social scientist said that there would be very few substantial gains.
“It isn’t changing the grammar of political diplomacy; rather it’s making it stylish which seems to be the emphasis. It is what the people love to hear. There is a surprise element and drama but that’s about it.”
He added, “This may look good but, in the long run, what is the substantial gain coming from this? There is excitement around the foreign policy, but show me potential gain. The Chinese are making gains without opening their mouth.”
Mayank Aggarwal contributed to this story.
