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Even before Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi could take the oath of office, he was pitchforked into a foreign policy crisis following an attack on the Indian Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan by men armed with grenades and rocket launchers, thought to be suicide bombers.
To make things worse, alliance partner Vaiko continued to question India’s invitation to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to attend Modi’s oath-taking and decided to boycott the ceremony, although the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made light of this.
No Indians lost their lives in Herat but four gunmen were killed. Afghan Deputy Interior Minister Gen Ayub Salangi was quoted in Tolo News, a vernacular television channel, as saying that no Indian died in the attack.
Modi spoke to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, himself also only a caretaker ruler, immediately after the 3 am attack which was mounted from a house nearby. Soon after, Pakistan condemned the attack and reiterated its stance against terrorism in all forms and manifestations. A spokesperson from Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement: “no cause justifies targeting of diplomatic missions. It is a relief that no one from the consulate staff was hurt”.
The attack took place even as India was waiting to hear from Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif whether he would attend Narendra Modi’s oath-taking ceremony on Monday. India was restrained in its reaction to the attack.
“Our diplomatic premises in Afghanistan have been repeatedly attacked by elements who clearly do not support the Afghan people’s effort to rebuild and redevelop their country” said government spokesman S Akbaruddin, without naming the nationality of those who had mounted the attack, although he did say that the attack “once again underscores that the main threat to Afghanistan and its peace, stability and security steps from terrorism beyond its borders”.
Although the Pakistan Foreign Office announced its recommendation was that Sharif should travel to New Delhi and not ‘lose the opportunity’, for some reason, a confirmation had not come till late in the evening.
This was amid a report by Reuters that the Pakistan Army and the civilian establishment was locked in a serious difference of opinion about how to deal with the Taliban insurgency on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, suggesting there was no unanimity on Sharif’s proposed Delhi visit either.
The Congress took the opportunity of taking a dig at the new government in New Delhi. “There is no ambience for serious talks with Pak; Narendra Modi should not forget this in euphoria of his coronation,” the party said.
"If Nawaz Sharif does accept the invitation, let's hope Narendra Modi will serve him chicken biryani!" Congress leader Shashi Tharoor tweeted .The reference was obviously to Modi's earlier attack on Congress accusing it of serving chicken biryani to visiting Pakistan premier Raja Pervez Ashraf in 2013 when he had come here on a private visit in the midst of the controversy over the beheading of an Indian soldier by Pakistani Army.
In a bid to douse Tamil fires, Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh called on Vaiko and tried to persuade him to attend the swearing in. Vaiko also met Modi. "Met Modi-ji, he heard me patiently for 25 minutes, (Arun) Jaitley and (Amit) Shah were also there. Gave them documents against Rajapakse," tweeted Vaiko later.
But clearly on the defensive, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman denied that Modi would hold bilateral talks with any of the Saarc leaders.
"The leaders will attend the ceremony. They will interact with each other during the dinner that Modi ji will host in their honour. But these meetings can by no means be termed bilateral talks," she said. Much preparation goes in before heads of governments sit down for bilateral talks, including precursor meetings of officials for outlining the agenda. None of this has been done in this instance. BJP sources said the invite to leaders of Saarc countries should be seen as a celebration of democracy. They said discussions on other bilateral issues was not on the agenda.
The BJP believes it has been able to convince regional parties like All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) as also NDA partner MDMK the "reason behind the invitation". BJP sources said the Sri Lankan issue normally evokes strong emotions in Tamil Nadu, which this time has been missing primarily because Tamil political parties as also people understand that this is different.
"The reaction, you would agree, has been muted from the political parties," a source said. BJP sources also credit Modi to have come up with the idea of inviting leaders of all neighbouring countries to the swearing in. The assessment is that by this gesture Modi has managed to send a message across that he has a good understanding of foreign policy, which until now not many even within his party credited him with.
There is also a sense that Modi is conscious that his predecessor Manmohan Singh was known for his adept handling of foreign policy issues and was widely respected among world leaders.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte called Modi to congratulate him.
