Why does India remain calm as the world worries about a trade war? Why is the West now embracing India’s stand on the Ukraine-Russia conflict? Why do Israel and Palestine remain friends with India? How did India manage to get ex-Navy officials lodged in Qatar’s jail back safely?
One thing that links all these is India’s ability to navigate complex diplomatic waters through quiet diplomacy. India has shown that it is possible to maintain friendly relations with countries that have very different ideologies. India has also shown how to practice its ancient philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ – the world is one family.
Here are some examples of what India’s subtle diplomacy can achieve:
The world talks trade war, but India remains calm
The world fears a trade war. US has announced tariffs on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese goods and services and they have retaliated. Europe is in line for tariffs too. India has managed to remain on the sidelines till now without the need for talk of retaliation or calling Trump’s actions a ‘war’. That is partly because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with US President Trump, who inaugurated his second term last month, in Washington DC.
Even before the meeting, India unveiled some tariff reduction on good like high-end motorcycles and bourbon whisky, indicating it heard what Trump was trying to say. The result of the meeting was that India is quietly hoping to close a trade deal with the US by the fall of 2025 even as the tariff war wrecks the world.
On the other hand, even as Trump announces reciprocal tariffs to kick in on April 2 against India, commerce minister Piyush Goyal is in the US talking trade, market access and seeking clarity on tariffs to assess their impact on India.
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/world/how-india-quiet-diplomacy-is-helping-it-navigate-choppy-global-waters-5-times-new-delhi-showed-the-way-13868975.html.
