New Indian govt faces crucial foreign policy decisions, say US experts

Washington, May 21

Eminent Indian experts in the US believe that the next Indian government to be formed after the declaration of the election results on May 23 faces crucial foreign policy decisions, particularly in the economic realm.

“No matter who forms the next government, India faces crucial foreign policy decisions, particularly in the economic realm,” Alyssa Ayres of the Council on Foreign Relations told PTI.

Author of the book ‘Our Time has Come: How India is Making its Place in the World’, Ayres, who served in the previous Obama Administration, said although the US-India relationship had made solid strides across governments in defence and security, there are increased tensions on the trade and economic front.

“I would also expect to see increased attention in the United States (particularly among members of Congress) to issues of religious freedom in India, especially given the tenor of the elections these past few weeks,” Ayres said.

In an op-ed titled ‘Troubles Aplenty: Foreign Policy Challenges for the Next Indian Government’, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Ashley Tellis stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who the exit polls predicted to be reelected, would have to confront serious external challenges both around India’s periphery and farther beyond.

“If India is to realise its great power ambitions in the decades to come, the next government will have to accelerate economic reforms domestically, strengthen India’s institutions, preserve its constitutional ethos and protect the nation’s internal cohesion, all of which have floundered dangerously in recent years,” Tellis wrote. PTI