Delegation Diplomacy or Damage Control ?

Delegation Diplomacy or Damage Control ?

India’s Global Spectacle Amid Domestic Crises - Shedding Responsibility, Dodging Accountability, Evading Answers …

 

Source: https://nyayavimarsha.com/current_affairs/delegation-diplomacy-or-damage-control-

By : Natraj V Shetty

Date : 23/05/2025

Diplomacy is often defined as the subtle pursuit of national interest. Yet today, it seems more like a global detour designed to avoid domestic accountability.

Diplomacy was once about subtlety and strategy. In Modi’s India, it’s about boarding flights to nowhere, hoping no one asks the tough questions.

Once more, in the presence of harsh realities , Pakistan-sponsored terror, global pressure and a fast-fastening neighbourhood. Despite holding a tactical upper hand in the recent armed conflict with Pakistan, the Modi government refrained from decisive action,  instead it capitulated to diplomatic pressure, meekly agreeing to a ceasefire orchestrated by then U.S. President Donald Trump. A display not of strength, but of submission.

To now bring forward the grand Delegation Diplomacy Tamasha, an emergency all-party visit to "raise awareness" about terror. What does it translate to? Save the PM's face and divert attention from a decade of unsuccessful foreign policy.

Let us call a spade a spade: an image-saving gimmick, tricolour-clad and replete with token leaders, without a strategy and with utmost absurdity.

126 Foreign Visits, 72 Countries, add a Pit-Stop in Lahore Pakistan

Prime Minister Modi has clocked an astonishing 127 foreign visits to 73 countries over 11 years , a staggering number even by hyper-globalized standards. This includes his sudden, unscheduled December 2015 trip to Pakistan to meet then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, elder brother of the current Pakistani PM. While his supporters may parade these frequent flyer miles as a badge of international stature, the real question remains: what tangible outcomes have these globe-trotting escapades actually delivered for India? Beyond optics and photo-ops, where is the strategic substance?

Consider this: Modi’s sudden, unscheduled visit to Lahore to meet then-Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif was neither preceded nor followed by any diplomatic framework, resolution, or agreement. It was theatre. A dramatic gesture lacking depth, follow-through, or strategic sense. It made headlines but achieved nothing.

Even more curious is the deafening silence around  U.S. President Donald Trump's intervention in the recent India-Pakistan standoff, where he took credit for brokering a ceasefire between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. What did it do to India's sovereignty? Why has there been no official statement or reaction from the Ministry of External Affairs? Has the Modi government  with its nationalist credentials  slipped quietly into the hands of foreign powers India's diplomatic clout without so much , as a whiff of parliamentary debate or public scrutiny?

The question really is: Is this global engagement or only a global charade?

The Gujarat Model of Diplomacy: Noise, Not Nuance

The countries shortlisted for this cross-party delegation resemble lucky draw winners rather than informed choices. China , permanent member of the UN Security Council, neighbour, economic competitor and most influential veto-holding nation backing Pakistan  has been excluded. Why? Because to involve China, there would need to be hard negotiations, actual diplomacy and admitting defeat  following 18 rounds of meetings between Modi and Xi Jinping that resulted in violent brutal confrontations in Ladakh in 2020.

Selective Amnesia, Selective Outreach

What kind of 'global outreach' leaves out all its nearest neighbours? No Nepal, no Bangladesh, no Bhutan, no Sri Lanka, no Maldives, no Iran, no Myanmar. SAARC, a regional forum one had dreamed would be a platform for cooperation, has been totally jettisoned. In a region where China is proactively investing in economic and diplomatic alliances, this amounts to strategic suicide.

Then Canada? Conveniently left out , possibly because the Indian government cannot plausibly bring up the issue of terror in a nation where India's own intelligence agency is alleged in the killing of a Khalistani separatist. That charge has become a diplomatic row, revealing an inadvertent wound. A diplomatic failure written and signed by the Modi government itself.

The Farce  of The Delegates

To deepen the embarrassment by giving undue importance to a theatrically staged delegation, masking incompetence with grandstanding, the delegation consists of Dr. Shrikant Shinde, son of Eknath Shinde, to go and enlighten the people of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo on counter-terrorism. Because apparently these African countries are the vanguard of India's battle against Pakistan-backed terror?

This isn't diplomacy. This is a satire sketch written by event managers for directionless PR activities, not diplomacy.

Then there is Shashi Tharoor , the Congress' eloquent speaker  tasked with going to the United States, where top leader have already gone on public record about calling a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, allegedly on India's behalf. Who exactly is representing India? Why isn't the EAM heard speaking the truth ?

The Bigger Betrayal: Internalizing the External

For 75 years, India maintained that Kashmir is an internal issue. But today, in an attempt to salvage one man’s image, the Modi government is parading it across the globe. This isn't foreign policy; it's internationalizing domestic issues, and that’s nothing short of betrayal.

This isn’t an outreach. It’s a surrender to super power dictating us on our foreign policies.

Modi’s Bandage Politics: Loud, Gaudy, and Hollow

From surgical interventions to stadium activism, Modi has made governance a form of performance art. But terrorism is no wedding mandap. You don't battle extremism with flower petals, photo opportunities, or diplomatic drumming.

What this struggle requires is strategy, multilateral alliances, clear messaging and smart negotiation. What we get is Dhokla Diplomacy  bombastic, ostentatious, dripping in syrupy PR, and completely devoid of nutritional value.

The World Is Watching  and Laughing

Diplomats in Washington, Beijing Brussels London and beyond aren’t fools . They know this all-party delegation won’t shift geopolitical alliances or change Pakistan’s terror calculus. They see through the desperate scramble to salvage Modi’s foreign policy image.

This is what happens when foreign policy becomes a reality show, where optics trump outcomes and slogans replace substance.

The Cost of One Man’s Vanity

This isn’t about India anymore. It’s about one man’s obsessive global PR machine. His travels, his choreographed meetings, his over-the-top reception events , all designed to project himself as a global leader. But when the mirror cracks , with terrorism, diplomatic isolation, and strategic failure staring back  the façade collapses.

Modi’s Global Jamboree has become a global joke  and sadly, the punchline is India’s credibility.

Directionless Delegation or Distraction? Diplomacy or Damage Control?

What will this delegation do? Is it a good sign, or another eyewash? No vision paper, no strategic white paper, no quantifiable objectives  only plane fare and press meets.

It's a sign not of power, but of confusion and desperation. A government that has no idea how to react to terror beyond hashtags, photo-opportunities, and tokenism.

The mirror has been held up. The nation sees the reflection. The question is will the Prime Minister ever summon the courage to look and answer straight questions ?

As Indians finally voice out louder on social media, maybe it's time our foreign policy ceased to be PR activities,  hashtag-driven and was instead grounded in humility, realism, and hard decisions. As Modi gets ready for another election rally or world tour, India must ask:

Do we desire a Prime Minister who commands from the front  or one who acts from the front row ?

“Foreign policy and diplomacy are not just tools of the present , they shape a nation’s destiny for generations. What’s needed is a visionary, future-facing approach, not viral stunts and short-term optics.”

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