Two big events, excluding the Mahakumbh and who took a dip in Ganga when, dominated the February news cycle. Top of the list was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call-on, in military parlance, on the US President Donald Trump. True, the event generated more memes than news, but it was a momentous visit, nevertheless. For two reasons at least.
One, it showed the limits of foreign policy India has pursued in the last decade. Its essence can be summarised in one sentence: Pluck India out of its neighbourhood and place it really close to the US. The thinking has been that once India-US relationship assumes the contours of de facto allies, relations with other nations will automatically align themselves. After all, who wouldn’t want good ties with the US’ closest friend!
Trump with his daily pronouncements, many on X, has destabilised this basket of eggs. Consequently, one saw a desperate Indian Prime Minister meeting almost everyone in the new US administration, including Elon Musk’s children, in the hope of building a new network of familiarity. On the other side was an indifferent US President who simply shrugged while raising the stakes by the minute—from equalisation of tariffs to purchase of US military wares among which is the prohibitively expensive F-35.
Two, since the visit received wall to wall coverage in India, people were able to see how under Trump, the US policies have taken an about turn. With direct outreach to China and Russia, Trump is building transactional relationships devoid of the chimera of US values, such as democracy and freedom. This jeopardises the premise of India’s proclaimed affinity with the US—oldest and largest democracies in the world—to contain China.
The cover story for March takes off from this visit, emphasising why the current foreign policy runs the risk of isolating India in its neighbourhood, in BRICS and in the Global South. The distance from isolation to irrelevance is very small.
The other February event which dominates the March issue is Aero India. There is perspective on the show as well as the news which came out of it. The nature of Aero India has changed, and the show report encapsulates that change. It is no longer the show in the service of the Indian armed forces. It is now a carnival in which the Indian defence industry showcases its wares to the global market in the hope that eventually the Indian military becomes just one of the customers. Complimenting the show report is a guest column on how defence offsets are furthering the growth of the private industry.
In the internal security segment, there is a commentary on Manipur after the long overdue resignation of its chief minister. In addition to all this are books, news and updates from the month gone by. Read on.