India, as one of leading developing countries, plays an active role in important multilateral forums for global governance such as United Nations,
World Trade Organization,
G20 leaders summit,
East Asia Summit,
BRICS summit of emerging economies,
Commonwealth of Nations and often seen as a '
Third World voice'. Apart from these big platforms India also engaged in many regional groupings like the
BASIC,
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation,
Indian Ocean Rim Association,
IBSA Dialogue Forum,
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation,
Mekong–Ganga Cooperation,
BIMSTEC among others.
BRICS summit ,
Modi,
Xi,
Putin and
Zuma. Modi in his maiden speech at the
BRICS, a group of emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, called for brotherhood among the member states citing
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, an ancient Indian concept meaning the entire world is one family, to unitedly face the global challenges. India together with its BRICS partner working toward the launching of a financial institute rivalling the western dominated
World Bank and
IMF which was first proposed during the
New Delhi summit in 2012 by the then Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh. In the
6th BRICS summit held on 14–26 July in
Fortaleza, Brazil the group have agreed to establish the bank with a corpus of US$100 billion. The bank would be named the
New Development Bank as suggested by the Indian side but Modi government has failed to bag the bank's headquarter for New Delhi which would be located in Shanghai, China. • Later at an event in
Brasília BRICS leaders met the
UNASUR heads of state/heads of government. At the same time, the Ministry of External Affairs added Spanish to its list of available languages, which the
Hindustan Times read as "indicative of the government's intent to go beyond Europe, Asia and the US to forge diplomatic and trade ties with Latin American nations." He travelled there via Germany.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit India is now a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which is known to be a China-backed bloc for military and energy cooperation. It held observer status from 2005 and publicly expressed its wish for a full membership. India and Pakistan joined SCO as full members on 9 June 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan. Although Russia had all along backed India's entry it was Beijing's reservation which held it so long. However Chinese leader
Xi Jinping informed Modi during
BRICS summit in Brazil that it is ready to welcome India together with Pakistan to project a united front against Islamic extremism in Central Asia including Afghanistan especially after NATO withdrawal. On 11–12 September
EAM Sushma Swaraj attended the
Dushanbe summit in Tajikistan where India formally put its paper for a full membership and it became likely that it would be granted so according to Chinese officials. Modi participated at the
heads of government summit in
Astana, Kazakhstan in December.
United Nations general assembly Modi delivered his maiden speech in the
sixty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly on 27 September 2014, where he called for reform and expansion of
United Nations Security Council including India's long-standing demand of a permanent membership. He expressed his concerns over the relevance of a 20th-century setup in the 21st century and the need to evaluate the UN's performance in the past 70 years. He had also argued why the UN should serve as "G-All" for global governance instead of several parallel sub-groupings like
G7,
G20, etc. In the wake of
ISIS threat in West Asia and similar in other parts of the globe he urged for immediate implementation of 'Comprehensive on International Terrorism' by the UN and offered India's pro-active role in it citing India as a victim of terrorism for decades. Prior to his speech he along with External Affairs Minister Swaraj met UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon and discussed UN governance relating issues. Ridiculing the possibility of any multilateral intervention, a demand
Sharif has made in his address at the UNGA on 26 September, on Kashmir related matter he stated that his government is ready for 'bilateral talk' to Pakistan provided Pakistan should cultivate a suitable environment for talks by giving up terrorism policy against India. Modi commented briefly on climate change and use of clean energy. He also asked world leaders and UN officials for observing International Yoga Day, emphasizing the importance of incorporating
Yoga in modern-day lifestyle. At the sidelines, he held bilateral meetings with Bangladeshi Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lankan President
Mahinda Rajapaksa and Nepali Prime Minister
Sushil Koirala taking his 'neighbourhood first' policy forward even in New York City. But there was no meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif following the recent low in the relation. Later he also met where
Benjamin Netanyahu, in a first meeting in 11 years between the two heads of government, the Israeli Prime Minister who had highlighted the potential of the bilateral relation saying "sky is the limit".
ASEAN-India summit Association of South-East Asian Nations or ASEAN is the 10 member block, it is one of the most successful regional block in the world. India started looking toward the group seriously from 1992 with the launch of 'Look East policy' and now it occupies the central position in India's policy Southeast Asia. From 2002 onward India and ASEAN started holding an annual summit at the sidelined of ASEAN summit showing the growing level of engagement between the two sides. At the
12th India-ASEAN summit, which was Modi's first appearance in an ASEAN meet, he called for greater connectivity with the Southeast Asian countries and mentioned that "India and ASEAN can be 'great partners'". Stressing on the importance ASEAN commands in India's foreign policy Modi has repeatedly remarked that his government has in the last 6 months made relation with ASEAN a top priority and turned India's two-decade old 'Look East policy' into 'Act East policy' which reflects a renewed momentum in India's approach toward ASEAN nations. The two sides also discussed the scope of extending the existing free trade agreement on the service sector as well and ways to increase
India-ASEAN trade which is expected to reach US$100 billion in 2015. Modi also stressed on three 'C's to strengthen the relation and those are commerce, connectivity and cultural links. In the sidelines of ASEAN summit Modi, also held several bilateral meetings with his counterparts including Thai Prime Minister Gen
Prayuth Chan-ocha, Singapore's Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong, Sultan of Brunei
Hassanal Bolkiah and South Korean President
Park Geun-hye. ;ASEAN Regional Forum Earlier Swaraj had attended the
2014 ASEAN Regional Forum followed by the related
EAS Foreign Ministers meeting, held from 8–11 August in
Naypidaw, Myanmar, which was her first ever appearance in multilateral forums after becoming India's foreign affairs head. At the sidelines of the multilateral meetings, she had also held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from seven countries including China, Australia, Canada, Vietnam, Philippines, Brunei and Indonesia. In regards to the controversy of territorial ownership in the
South China Sea, a contentious issue impacting most
ASEAN member states, where
ONGC Videsh has an investment in oil blocks,
MEA spokesperson
Syed Akbaruddin said: "India is not a party to the dispute in the South China Sea. We feel that the dispute should be resolved between those who are party to it in a peaceful manner and it should be in accordance with international law".
East Asia summit , Myanmar. East Asia Summit (EAS) which is an ASEAN led dialogue forum comprises 18 countries, 10 core ASEAN nations along with Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and the United States. Over the years EAS has become the most important multilateral body in the Asia Pacific region for discussing security, trade and commerce, environment and others, unlike
APEC which is purely economic in nature. Modi participated in the
ninth East Asia Summit in
Nay Pyi Daw, Myanmar in November which was his second major multilateral even after
BRICS in July. Describing the importance of the EAS in managing regional security, Modi mentioned "No other forum brings together such a large collective weight of global population, youth, economy and military strength. Nor is any other forum so critical for peace, stability and prosperity in Asia-Pacific and the world". With a veiled reference of the
issue of South China Sea Modi has asked the global community for respecting maritime norms and regulations and stressed on the importance of maintaining free and secured sea-lines of communication for regular trade and commerce. He made a remark that "In a world of interdependence and globalisation, there is no option but to follow international laws and norms. This also applies to maritime security. For this reason, following international law and norms is important for peace and stability in the South China Sea as well". Modi also focused on the role of EAS member countries to tackle the menace of terrorism in the region. Modi also highlighted the re-opening of
Nalanda University and the role of all EAS member states into it to showcase the joint effort of the block. Among others, the issue of
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was discussed in details during the summit. In the sidelines of EAS Modi also held several bilateral meetings with his counterparts including Russia Premier
Dmitry Medvedev, The Philippines President
Benigno Aquino, Chinese Premier
Li Keqiang and Indonesian President
Joko Widodo.
G-20 leaders summit G20 or the Group of 20 leading economies (advanced and emerging markets) of the world formed after the
2008 financial crisis for international financial governance. India which ranks 5 in terms of nominal GDP and the fastest growing economy plays an important role in the group since it began in 2008. For the first time in 2014, India was represented by Prime Minister Modi unlike all the previous summits when
Dr. Manmohan Singh, an economist, used to be the Prime Minister. The host and President of
2014 summit Australia's
Tony Abbott intended the summit to focus exclusively on revamping the crisis prone fragile economy and to add US$2 trillion in the global economy by additional 2% global GDP growth rate for the next five years but countries like the US were keener to discuss issues of climate change and reduction of carbon emissions as it sealed a similar pact with China. India's interest was also aligned with Abbott as it wanted to reboot its economy and return to the high growth trajectory soon. Modi became the Prime Minister of the world's largest democracy, winning the highest number of votes in its history, and was the most sought after world leader at the G20 in Brisbane.
The Guardian called Modi the ''G20's political rock star'', while commenting on Modi's popularity in Brisbane. His personal rapport with host Australian Prime Minister
Tony Abbott was something to watch out for. Abbott who was meeting Modi for the third time, after his New Delhi trip in September and in
Nay Pyi Daw just 2 days ago, extended a warm hug to Modi while welcoming world leaders in the summit venue in Brisbane. This also generated in the Australian media circle as there was 'no hug' even for Abbott's long-time friend Cameron. Modi, on his longest trip of 10 days to three different countries, met leaders from 40 different countries. Thereafter he visited Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra in what is being referred to as his 'diplomatic juggernaut'. The issue of
black or unaccounted money kept in tax havens (countries that allow foreigners to dump huge unaccounted money) abroad was also raised by Modi which is also a burning issue in India's domestic polity. He also stressed on the need of changing laws in certain countries to allow better information sharing of black money kept abroad as it is also linked to the terror funding. India the world's largest recipient of remittances with $71 billion sent last year, pushed hard for the reduction in the remittance costs of non-residents at the G20 summit, asking it to work on steps to reduce costs in sending money home from abroad which is as high as 10 per cent in some countries. Earlier India has been able to convince Saudi Arabia to reduce it to 3.5 per cent. G20 agreed to bring down the global average cost of transferring remittances to 5%. In the sidelines of G20 Modi also held several bilateral meetings with his counterparts including British Prime Minister
David Cameron, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel, French President
François Hollande, European Union President
Herman Van Rompuy, Saudi Crown Prince
Salman bin Abdulaziz, Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper and also attended a special dinner hosted by his friend
Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan. Even before the G20 summit formally begins all five leaders of the
BRICS grouping gathered in Brisbane for an informal meeting at the invitation of Brazilian President
Dilma Rousseff to discuss issues concerning the group like the
New Development Bank.
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Relations with the immediate neighbours in South Asia, which have allegedly long been neglected by the previous governments, became a priority feature in Modi's foreign policy. He started well by inviting all the heads of states/governments of the neighbouring countries at his inauguration and then pushed for an early summit to encourage cooperation in many regional issues like trade, connectivity, infrastructure, transit facility among the member states. In his
maiden SAARC summit in the Nepalese capital
Kathmandu, he had focused on greater people to people contacts, better connectivity, commercial linkages within the region. China, which holds an observer status in the group, was represented by Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin seen actively promoting a more active role for itself in the region including infrastructure funding through its proposed
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and extending its ambitious
Maritime Silk Road project to South Asian nations. Pakistan, China's all weather friend, also vouched for a more participatory role for the observer nations in the summit process, indirectly advocating for a more Chinese involvement. Although no such proposal was accepted because of India's reservation. India had earlier advanced three proposals to boost connectivity in the region and those were the 'Regulation of Passenger and Cargo Vehicular Traffic amongst SAARC Member States' for seamless vehicular movement beyond the national borders the 'SAARC Regional Agreement on Railways' for international rail service and the 'SAARC Framework Agreement for Energy Cooperation (Electricity)' for energy trade in the subcontinent which is often regarded as world's most energy-starved region. Pakistan which is the second largest economy in the block threatened to jeopardise the entire summit by not agreeing on any of the three proposed agreements. Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had a brief interaction with
Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan's foreign affairs advisor which was seen as a possible ice-breaker but later the Indian side termed it as ‘courtesy call’. The Nepalese delegation including Prime Minister Koirala, the summit host, tried hard to mediate between India and Pakistan to rescue the summit from total failure which led to a hand-shake between Modi and Sharif at the end. Finally, all the sides agreed to sign the 'SAARC Framework Agreement for Energy Cooperation (Electricity)' only as a face-saving measure for the Kathmandu summit. In the sidelines of the main summit, Modi also held bilateral meetings with leaders of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka with a notable exception of Pakistan due to ongoing stand-off between the two countries.
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Although India is not a member of
APEC, Chinese leader
Xi Jinping, the host of the
2014 APEC summit, invited Modi to attend the event in Beijing as a guest and also showed willingness to support India's bid to join APEC. India already enjoys such support from other member states such as Russia and Vietnam. However, Modi did not participate in the meeting as a host partner country on the line of Pakistan and Bangladesh on the account of busy diplomatic schedule and a likely state visit to China next year.
International Agency for Solar Technologies and Applications Modi has brought together 120 countries to form a solar alliance named
International Agency for Solar Technologies & Applications (INSTA).
Asia Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) In November 2016, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in their Summit Joint Statement reiterated the resolve of the two countries to "develop industrial corridors and industrial network for the growth of Asia and Africa." India-Japan economic engagement with Africa, under the aegis of Asia Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC), is based on the premise that the direction of global economic activities is indeed shifting towards the
Indo-Pacific region. AAGC seeks to provide an alternative model of development and partnership between developed and developing countries/region for mutual benefit incorporating interconnectivity, infrastructure development, and capacity building. ==See also==