One cannot expect huge investments pouring into India every time the Indian Prime Minister or any other Cabinet minister takes off on a foreign trip!

Manish K. Pandey | The Dollar Business

Since assuming office on May 26, 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited 18 countries across 5 continents and spent over 50 days on foreign soil. These visits have garnered praise and ridicule in equal proportions! While some (including the opposition!) have vociferously condemned them as a “sheer waste of time”, there are others who think it’s all about strengthening India’s diplomatic and trade ties with the world. Even media has fervently followed all his foreign trips, right from his first visit to the neighbouring kingdom of Bhutan in June last year to the most recent one to yet another neighbour Bangladesh. And why not? This is certainly some serious travelling done by any Indian Prime Minister after a long time. Or is it all show and no substance (as many claim)?

While some of these tours were to attend multi-lateral summits including BRICS, SAARC and G20, most of them were state visits to foster and strengthen bilateral ties. Whatever be the reason, the bigger question is: Were these tours really of use to India’s foreign relations or trade? When it comes to long-term benefits to the Indian economy, only the time will tell if these tours were worth Modi’s time at PMO. But what we can do for now is weigh their economic value added – in terms of foreign relations strengthened and trade benefits won.

Let’s start with PM Modi’s first trip to Bhutan last year. Although the visit to the tiny neighbour nation was condemned for being more figurative than essential, there is definitely more to it than meets the eye. It’s worth noting that Bhutan shares about 500-km border with China and the latter is really keen on establishing its diplomatic mission in Thimphu. Given this and the growing proximity of the Dragon with India’s other neighbours, a visit to Bhutan was really high up in the foreign ministry’s scheme of things. The visit not only ensured that Bhutan remained a close ally of India, but also assured India of an uninterrupted supply of hydroelectric power from Bhutan (India has invested $1.2 billion on the construction of three hydropower projects in Bhutan) when it comes to business.

In July 2014, PM clubbed his state visit to Brazil with the BRICS Summit. While a month later, in August 2015, PM toured another strategic neighbour (Nepal), in September he visited Japan. The Nepal visit was important from a geopolitical point of view, while his visit to Japan helped India garner FDI to the tune of $35 billion in infrastructure-related projects. While PM’s Australia visit (in November 2014) gave a new lease of life to the long-pending India-Australia Nuclear Power deal, his tour to Canada (in April 2015) generated business worth over $1.3 billion (16 commercial pacts were signed by both sides) apart from Ottawa agreeing to supply 3,000 MT of uranium to India beginning this year.

During Modi’s visit to France (in April 2015), the two sides signed about 20 pacts with France pledging over $2.2 billion for sustainable development in India. French aircraft manufacturer Airbus too announced to increase its India outsourcing from $450 million to $2 billion over the next five years. In fact, business was the core agenda of his three-day tour to China in May this year. Both nations signed $22 billion worth of MoUs across sectors like smart city, textiles, renewable energy, etc. apart from India extending electronic tourist visas to Chinese nationals.

Thus, India’s PM has till date toured a dozen-and-a-half nations across the globe, most of them in Asia. And of course, it would be apt to say that his most high-profile visit took place in September last year, when he landed on American soil and addressed the UN General Assembly. The visit not only marked the beginning of a new era of Indo-US relationship, it also resulted in attracting $41 billion worth of investments in Indian manufacturing.

Hullabaloos and criticisms apart, PM’s foreign visits can’t be straightaway termed as ‘wasted efforts’. One cannot expect huge investments pouring into India every time the Prime Minister or a minister goes on a foreign tour. One has to understand these foreign tours are not just tours, they are much more than that. It’s diplomacy at work and is essential to maintain the geopolitical balance, if nothing else. It’s because of these foreign visits that the world is showing a renewed interest in India. And that certainly is worth more than just a few billion dollars!

Let’s...just...stop..being...so...myopic!