India’s Foreign Policy Priorities and the Emergence of a Modi Doctrine

India’s current Prime Minister Narendra Modi is often touted as India’s Deng Xiaoping, expected to lead the country on a path of economic reform and accelerated growth.1 While Modi rose to power on an economic mandate, it is his foreign policy that has received the most attention in the media. Modi has been criticised by the media, the public and the opposition parties for taking several overseas trips in his short tenure in office. Visiting 19 countries in his first year in office (including state visits and multilateral institutional meetings) for a total of 33 as Prime Minister, Modi intends to engage India’s neighbours and strengthen regional ties while simultaneously rejuvenating and strengthening India’s relations with great powers such as Russia and the United States.