‘Needs to be principled’: Salman Khurshid suggests India’s foreign affairs policy needs a revamp

Most Indian prime ministers since Jawaharlal Nehru have taken a special interest in foreign affairs and thus the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has become an important nodal point for foreign policy. An IFS joint secretary is permanently posted in the PMO, and senior superannuated officials are on hand for the prime minister to consult with. Thus, with the foreign policy being PMO-driven and the PM travelling extensively across the globe to push the Indian point of view, it makes sense to strengthen the IFS (even if incrementally). However, that also means that the MEA has to spare extra hands as well as fortify resources in the ministry to support the efforts of the PMO. Additionally, this means that the EAM can play a diminished and truncated role, as with the incumbent minister S Jaishankar, who has arguably been reduced to a glorified spokesperson touting hawkish stands that needlessly ruffle feathers and show India in a poor light.

Another problem that has cropped up is the evolution of the office of the national security adviser (NSA), often occupied by a former senior IFS official but periodically by an Intelligence Bureau official, as under the present PM. The evolution of this post, while a...

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