Essential links of diplomacy

On September 16, Mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) received a message from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), denying him the necessary permission to attend a BRICS meet in Russia. It is reported that the Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim's planned trip to Moscow to attend BRICS summit was denied clearance by MEA citing "political reasons".

Due to the denial of permission by the Centre, Firhad Hakim will not be able to attend the BRICS summit in Russia next month. It is learnt that Hakim was invited to the international summit and was reportedly the only mayor to have been invited. However, reports claim that plans were afoot to send a KMC delegation prior to his visit since the civic body has lately been focusing on improvement of drainage system in Kolkata and for which the mayor wanted to borrow ideas about the management of such systems. The International Municipal Forum of the BRICS countries is an important platform for the exchange of experience and ideas between representatives of regional and municipal governments from the BRICS countries, as well as for building effective business communications with entrepreneurs from Russia and other partner countries.

Analysts believe that such a decision by the Union government only reflects the unhealthy relation which the Bengal government has with the former. Many claim that the Modi government decided to deny permission so that no random statements are made at the international forum that may show the Indian government in a bad light.

The 2024 BRICS (an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit will be held in Kazan, Russia, from October 22 to 24, which will be the first summit of BRICS countries after the expansion. BRICS Plus (its membership is growing) seeks to establish deeper ties between member nations and cooperate on economic expansion, including trade. The countries act as a counterbalance to traditional Western influence. They seek to depend on each other to build a growing influence in the world. India is not in a comfortable situation in the group, currently led by China and Russia. It may be recalled that Russia and China’s dominant presence in Bangladesh where an Indian ally has been dethroned in a mass uprising might have influenced MEA’s decision to deny the Mayor of KMC to attend the BRICS Summit. Interestingly, only the Mayor of Kolkata—the capital of West Bengal which shares the largest land border of India with Bangladesh—has been invited. Political intention behind this choice cannot be ruled out.

It was reported that hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offered shelter to people in distress from Bangladesh, the Union government said that a state administration has no locus standi on the issue. These matters are handled by the Union government and the comments are "totally misplaced".

On July 21, ‘martyrs day’ rally in Kolkata, Banerjee, referring to violence-hit Bangladesh, said she would keep the doors of West Bengal open for people in distress from the neighbouring country and offer them shelter. In her remarks, Mamata Banerjee also referred to the UN Resolution on refugees as justification for her stand over the possible ‘humanitarian’ crisis that may emerge on account of the severe law and order breakdown that has gripped Bangladesh in the past few days. "I should not be speaking on the affairs of Bangladesh since that is a sovereign nation and whatever needs to be said on the issue is a subject matter of the Centre," Banerjee said. "But I can tell you this, if helpless people come knocking on the doors of Bengal, we will surely provide them shelter," she added.

Within two weeks of her observation, Bangladesh faced the worst civil unrest where hundreds of people died and the country’s prime minister was forced to vacate her chair and flee to India on August 5. As a neighbouring state, West Bengal faced the major blow as private hospitals of Kolkata, which are largely dependent on Bangladeshi patients, got severely affected. Though prolonged strikes (since August 9) by junior doctors in state-run hospitals have diverted numerous local patients to these high-end private hospitals, the Bangladesh crisis, if not addressed properly by the MEA, will make many of these Kolkata hospitals unviable.

It was reported that India saw a dramatic increase in medical tourists from Bangladesh in 2023, with numbers soaring 48 per cent to 4,49,570 from 3,04,067 in 2022. This sharp rise contrasts with the comparatively low influx from other neighbouring countries like the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Myanmar. Most of these patients got treated in Kolkata. "There is a sharp fall in the number of patients coming from Bangladesh to our Kolkata unit. It has been a 50 per cent drop and this may continue till the situation normalises a bit in Bangladesh," an official of a private hospital in Kolkata said.

States’ role in the Indian foreign policy

Article 1 of the Constitution states that India is a ‘Union of States’. The Constitution of India provides the federal basis—Parliament is bicameral, consisting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and there is a division of authority listed in Schedule VII. The Schedule contains a Union List where the Union government enjoys absolute power to frame rules and regulations pertaining to the entries. Similarly there is a ‘State List’ where the state governments enjoy full authority to frame rules and regulations. In the ‘Concurrent List’, both states and the Union have authority to handle the subject. But the state could not make law against the Union. In the Indian federal mechanism, parliament has full power to take legitimate decisions in foreign policy, including accession to any treaty and resort to war. This authority gives power to the union executive to implement any agreement and treaty with an external party.

Efforts to give a greater share to the state in foreign policy, although problematic, arose out of necessity from both sides. The Union government's willingness was demonstrated when India proposed a mechanism in which state governments could provide recommendations in accordance with the Human Rights Covenant. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights, and the right to due process and a fair trial. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2200A (XXI) on December 16, 1966, and entered into force on March 23, 1976, after its thirty-fifth ratification or accession. Mamata Banerjee, in her July 21 speech on Bangladesh, probably referred to this UN Covenant.

From the states themselves, there were demands for a greater share in foreign policy beginning in the 1970s. In 1971, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra demanded that the state should have a voice in the formulation of export policy concerning products substantially produced in the region. Tamil Nadu sought greater authority to manage foreign direct investment to deal directly with foreign collaborators and licensed industries. In the northeastern border area, a comment from Nagaland addressed issues related to the border with Myanmar.

However, the first successful intervention by a state in influencing India’s foreign policy came from Tamil Nadu. In March 2014, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a unanimous resolution demanding that India “completely” boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka and seek the temporary suspension of the island nation from the Commonwealth. This was the third resolution passed by the AIADMK government regarding the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamils. Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, who moved the resolution, outlined her government's relentless struggle to protect the interests of Tamils in Sri Lanka and recalled the earlier resolution passed in 2011, demanding economic sanctions against the island nation. The second resolution, passed in October 2013, sought the temporary suspension of Sri Lanka from CHOGM due to alleged atrocities against the minority Tamil community. Respecting Tamil sentiments, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not participate in the meet.

States’ involvement during the Modi regime

In 2005, when Narendra Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat, the Gujarat government formalised an administrative structure to appoint ‘Goodwill Ambassadors’ to establish meaningful and intimate contacts between NRIs of Gujarati origin and their home state. Accordingly, after careful consideration, the government introduced the new scheme of ‘Honorary Representative of the Government of Gujarat’ and established a ‘Non-Resident Indian Division’ in the General Administration Department at Gandhinagar on December 23, 2008.

The Government of Gujarat decided to appoint suitable persons or organisations of eminence as ‘Honorary Representatives of the Government of Gujarat’ from among the Non-Resident Gujarati community residing outside the country. The following guidelines were issued for the appointment of persons or organisations as ‘Honorary Representatives of the Government of Gujarat’:

(a) The ‘Honorary Representatives of the Government of Gujarat’ (In case of an organisation, two persons to be nominated by the organisation) on a visit to Gujarat will be treated as 'State Guest’ during their stay in the State as per the Protocol Rules of the State Government. Necessary and detailed instructions in this regard shall be published separately. Suitable identification papers will be issued to the ‘Honorary Representative of the Government of Gujarat.’

(b) The person or organisation appointed as ‘Honorary Representative of the Government of Gujarat’ shall work towards motivating the NRI-Gs to participate and to contribute in the development process of the state.

(c) The post of ‘Honorary Representative of the Government of Gujarat’ will not carry any honorarium.

(d) The Non Resident Gujarati (NRG) Foundation will act as a Nodal Agency in the context of suggestions received from the ‘Honorary Representatives of the Government of Gujarat’

(e) The state government will act on the suggestions and information provided by the ‘Honorary Representatives of the Government of Gujarat’ regarding security and welfare of NRI-G community residing in different parts of the world and would represent the issues based on the information provided by the ‘Honorary Representatives of the Government of Gujarat’ before the Government of India, as and when required.

(f) The ‘Honorary Representatives of the Government of Gujarat’ may recommend various issues to be taken up with different foreign countries, and the state government, after due examination, would take up such issues through the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.

(g) The ‘Honorary Representatives of the Government of Gujarat’ cannot sign any agreement or cannot enter into any financial or otherwise dealings on behalf of the state government. Their appointment is with the primary intention of establishing strong links with the NRI-G community by motivating them to participate in the development process of the state and to apprise the state government of the problems/issues faced by the NRI-G community. The ‘Honorary Representatives of the Government of Gujarat’ can contribute their valuable suggestions and ideas to the state government regarding the development policy of the state.

(h) The instructions of this resolution will replace the instructions of earlier resolution dated February 10, 2005 from the date of issue.

The Gujarat government, under the chief ministership of Narendra Modi, made a clear policy on how the state would influence the foreign policy of India for protecting the interests of Gujarati citizens in particular, and the state of Gujarat in general.

After Modi became the Prime Minister of India in 2014, he continued to advocate for involving states in foreign policymaking, promoting the concept of “cooperative federalism.” In November 2015, Modi highlighted the involvement of states in foreign policy, noting initiatives like state-to-state summits and export promotion councils. While the Congress-led regime viewed state involvement in foreign policy as a constraint, Modi, having been a state chief minister, saw it as beneficial.

Goodbye to ‘cooperative federalism’

During the last decade, all the big talks about ‘cooperative federalism’ have been erased. States are not even consulted while framing Indian foreign policy. A few examples:

The West Bengal Chief Minister was excluded from the Ganga water-sharing talks that the Indian Prime Minister had with the Bangladesh Prime Minister during their bilateral meeting in June 2024.

On July 15, the Kerala government appointed senior IAS officer K. Vasuki as a secretary in charge of “matters concerning external cooperation.” The order indicated that Vasuki, who is also the secretary of labour and skills, would handle this additional role. The Resident Commissioner at Kerala House in New Delhi will support Vasuki and liaise with the Ministry of External Affairs, missions, and embassies on related matters. Responding to the Kerala government’s decision, MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal provided clarification during the weekly media briefing. He emphasised that, according to the Constitution of India, foreign affairs and all matters relating to the Union’s relationship with any foreign country fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Union government.

In 2023, the Prime Minister of India decided to reduce import duties on eight US products, including chickpeas, lentils, and apples, which were imposed in 2019 in response to America's measure to increase tariffs on certain steel and aluminium products. India had imposed retaliatory duties on 28 US products. America imposed an import duty of 25 percent on steel products and 10 percent on certain aluminium products on the grounds of national security. This decision was made without consulting the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and apple growers of Kashmir, who were badly hit by the decision.

Observation

The Union government, while formulating India’s foreign policy, should not take the states for granted. Involvement of the states in formulating foreign policy is essential in a globally integrated economy. Moreover, states like Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, the Northeastern states, and Punjab, which share common cultural ties and natural resources like rivers and forests with neighbouring nations, must be involved in any policy decision-making.

Views expressed are personal