Modi government has restored pride to Bharat: BJP

Bengaluru, April 3
The BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "moved with speed and resolve on a scale rarely seen in our external engagement, to restore Bharat's position in international affairs and rebuild partnerships" across the world, the party said on Friday.

It noted the prime minister and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj together engaged with 94 countries in the 10 months since the government was formed.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in its resolution on foreign policy titled "Our national ambition is Bharat's rise as a strong and respected world power" at its national executive meet here, also said that India has emerged as an "important player on regional and global security" while displaying its firm conviction and capability in protecting its own sovereign interests.

"Even as we reached out to our neighbours and the world, we have shown our will to speak clearly on our security interests and defend them robustly," it said.

Modi has "restored pride" in India's civilisational identity and cultural traditions and "Bharat enjoys an enhanced international stature today", said the resolution.

Referring to India continuously as Bharat, it said that Modi has pursued a "bold, proactive and innovative foreign policy that is aligned with our government's primary goal of accelerating national economic development; and to fulfil Bharat's global responsibilities as the world's most populous youth nation and largest democracy".

It coined five "Ss" of its foreign policy: Samman or dignity and honour; Samvad or greater engagement and dialogue; Samriddhi or shared prosperity; Suraksha or regional and global security; and Sanskriti evam Sabhyata or cultural and civilizational linkages. "These five themes have become the Panchamrit - new pillars of our foreign policy".

The party said the government has pursued greater global engagement with countries of all regions "ignoring power-bloc politics" and "rendered irrelevant geo-politics of hyphenation while boosting bilateral relationships without being influenced by any third country".

"We have successfully deepened our engagement with all major powers and with countries in every region of the world."

It said Modi's Make in India initiative had attracted "unprecedented global interest and confidence in Bharat" and there was optimism about its "emergence as an anchor of the global economy and as a leader in advancing peace and prosperity across the world".

The BJP said that its policy for building peaceful ties with Pakistan is "predicated on an end to terrorism" and that the Modi government has "responded firmly and appropriately to provocations" on the border.

It "laid out a clear policy for building peaceful and friendly relations with Pakistan, predicated on an end to terrorism.

"There can be no compromise with terrorism. There can't be any duplicity towards a problem that has become a regional crisis and is fast becoming an international nightmare. We have responded firmly and appropriately to provocations on the border/Line of Control and threats of infiltration and terrorism."

It said that Modi's message to his counterpart on the occasion of the Pakistan Day this year was unambiguous: "All outstanding issues with Pakistan can be resolved through bilateral dialogue in an atmosphere free from terror and violence."

The resolution said that Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar's visit to Pakistan as part of the SAARC Yatra is a "clear message to our neighbour that Bharat will engage with it only on such terms that reflect its national security and strategic interests".

The resolution also slammed the previous UPA government for its "lacklustre" neighbourhood policy and said that "the fact that we face innumerable problems with almost all our neighbours is evidence that we had not engaged with the neighbourhood properly in the past".