Modi's oath-taking plans send strong signals - Editorial

India’s Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi, who won a landslide victory in the recently concluded election appears to be setting  a nice example. He has invited all the leaders of South Asian countries, including the Prime Minister of Pakistan, to attend his swearing-in ceremony.


This gesture by Modi sends a strong positive signal towards the hope of a  sturdy South Asian bloc. Especially the invitation extended to Pakistan  can be considered an extremely positive move that indicates Modi’s  expectations for a cordial relationship with his neighbour

Many foreign policy analysts were dumbstruck by this, as so far the practice has been to treat the swearing-in of a new Prime Minister as essentially a domestic matter, despite the occasional attendance of foreign diplomats stationed in India.

This gesture by Modi sends a strong positive signal towards the hope of a sturdy South Asian bloc. Especially the invitation extended to Pakistan can be considered an extremely positive move that indicates Modi’s expectations for a cordial relationship with his neighbour. On the other hand it can be looked as an attempt by Modi to allay any fears India’s neighbours will have about his foreign policy.

Whatever the reason may be, this outreach by Modi should be commended.  It gives a strong signal to the world that the new Prime Minister of India, which is the largest democracy in the world, is looking to strengthen his relationships with other South Asian countries, which are much smaller and less powerful economically and militarily.

South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) is undoubtedly one of the least active regional co-operation agreements.  Despite SAARC, there is hardly any freedom of movement of goods, services and people within the region. Nearly accounting for 25 per cent of the world’s population, South Asia is considered one of the poorest places in the world as it accounts for about 5 per cent of the world’s total GDP. Some of the countries in the South Asian bloc are land-locked countries and literally cannot survive without the co-operation of their neighbours.

In the past few years, hardly any serious talk has taken place during SAARC meetings to expand trade and liberalise markets among the member countries to move forward as a region. This was done in the face of having extremely successful regional pacts such as the European Union. France and Germany have been historical rivals but in the case of making a regional body, they came together and worked together for the common good. This is a good example for India and Pakistan, the two nuclear powers in the SAARC to follow.

We hope that Modi’s outreach to heads of South Asian countries is not just a PR tactic, which will yield no positive result in making South Asia a global power.