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<\/a><\/p>\nManjari Chatterjee Miller<\/a>,\u00a0Associate<\/span>\u00a0Professor of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published a recent article on the continuity of ideas in India\u2019s foreign policy even under the current BJP government.<\/span><\/p>\n Miller’s article, entitled “India\u2019s Narendra Modi Isn\u2019t a Game-Changer,<\/a>” was published in\u00a0Foreign Policy<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>on September 24, 2019. From the text of the article:<\/p>\n On Sunday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke in Houston before a crowd of around 50,000 cheering attendees. If that weren\u2019t enough of a triumph for a foreign leader visiting the United States, U.S. President Donald Trump joined him on stage in Texas.<\/p>\n The fact that the event was titled \u201cHowdy, Modi,\u201d with the spotlight pinned firmly on the prime minister rather than the country he represents\u2014or even on Trump, who loves nothing more than an adoring crowd\u2014is telling. It encapsulates the meteoric rise of a leader who until just five years ago had been banned under the U.S. Congress\u2019 International Religious Freedom Act from setting foot in the United States. His strongman, globe-trotting, leader-hugging image, and his appeals to religious nationalism and populism, all stand in contrast to his rather less colorful political opponent, Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress party.<\/p>\n It is commonplace to argue that the rise of Modi and his party, the right-wing, Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), marks the grim demise of India\u2019s own grand old party, the Congress party; the Nehru-Gandhi family that has led it; and its vision of India as a secular and nonaligned world power. But that isn\u2019t quite right. Even under the BJP, many aspects of Indian foreign policy today still lean on old, institutionalized ideas of India\u2019s role in the world. Beyond that, it is incorrect to think of previous Congress governments as monolithic in their viewpoints and strategies. In turn, it is a mistake to see a dichotomy between the foreign policy vision of India under Congress and India under the BJP today. In many ways, there is much continuity.<\/p>\n As independent India\u2019s first prime minister, Congress party leader Jawaharlal Nehru was also its most powerful. Nehru was not simply a prime minister; when he came to power, he was already a towering figure in India\u2019s nationalist movement, with both national and international name recognition. His standing allowed him to take over the role of India\u2019s foreign minister as well. As the Cold War unfolded, it was clear that Nehru was going to be an agenda-setter whose views would dominate India\u2019s perception of its place in the world for decades to come.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n