NewzVille Desk
The Congress today said that it was time for recalibration, honest introspection and course correction in the country’s foreign policy to reclaim India’s stature and standing in the comity of nations. The party also took strong exception to India abstaining on the UN Resolution on Gaza ceasefire, saying this was not just unfortunate, but a painful and unacceptable decision.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi today, senior party leader and former union minister Anand Sharma rued the “fundamental departure” from India’s foreign policy to the detriment of India’s standing in the comity of nations. He added that it was a matter of serious concern that there was a drift in India’s foreign policy and a visible decline in India’s influence in the world.
The Senior Leader noted that the foreign policy of India was historically meant to promote India’s national interest and mobilise support for what is right. He said, there was always a broad-based national consensus on the foreign policy and it had never been held captive or hostage to partisan politics. He noted, the national consensus has been weakened in recent years if not completely broken down. “Government has arbitrarily chosen to depart from India’s traditional position without taking the Parliament into confidence”, he said, adding, while the government of the day has the mandate to take decisions, but when it comes to Foreign Policy, it must involve everyone.
Sharma maintained that it is up to the government to decide how it retrieves India’s standing and rebuilds national consensus. “Time for recalibration, honest introspection and course correction in our foreign policy”, he remarked, while emphasising that equally important and integral to it is the neighbourhood policy.
“We were and rightly so acknowledged as a pre-eminent power of South Asia, but nobody can say that today and it is for us to rethink on strategy and engage in a manner that despite challenges and complexities, India regains strength and standing in its own region region,” he said.
Referring to India abstaining from the UN Resolution on ceasefire in Gaza, he said, it was painful that the land of Gandhi had not voted for peace. He said, even those countries which enjoyed good relationships with Israel and the US voted for the ceasefire, but India abstained. “We had a moral voice and a sense of humanity, but both have declined”, he regretted.
Calling for debate and discussion on India’s foreign policy, he said, “time has come for India’s strategic engagements and foreign policy to be debated and discussed. No country in a democracy avoids debate or discussion on its foreign policy”.
Observing that multilateralism was under siege as the United Nations was getting weakened with its decisions not getting implemented and frequently violated, he said, India needs to think where does it stand when the rule-based multilateral order of governance has started to collapse. “This is a fundamental challenge before us and it cannot be wished away”, he remarked.
