Expanding India’s diplomatic footprint

It's significant that Parliament’s standing committee has called for efforts to bridge gaps in 42 countries where India currently lacks resident missions

In recent years, India has positioned itself as the voice of the Global South, taken on a greater role in regional groupings, and played a key role in global bodies such as the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Coalition on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) while simultaneously enhancing developmental aid around the world. Its diplomatic footprint, however, continues to have sizeable gaps in regions such as Africa and Latin America. In light of this, it is significant that Parliament’s standing committee on external affairs has called for accelerated efforts to bridge gaps in 42 countries where India currently lacks resident missions.

Barricades outside the Parliament House in New Delhi, India, on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. India’s finance minister cut taxes for low income earners to spur consumption in Asia’s third-largest economy, while also targeting a slightly smaller budget deficit in the coming fiscal year. Photographer: Prakash Singh/Bloomberg (Bloomberg)

India operationalised missions in Albania, Bolivia, Georgia, Latvia and Gabon, and opened new consulates in Australia, Spain and New Zealand over the past few months, but there needs to be a fresh look at establishing a presence in countries where New Delhi has strong economic or strategic interests or a large diaspora. The parliamentary panel’s recommendation dovetails with the foreign policy objective of building a conducive environment for the country’s development through partnerships with friendly countries. Such moves will also lead to broadened global support for India’s interests. The process for establishing new missions is time-consuming and requires approval from the host country, but given the external affairs ministry’s relatively small budget, it should not be a problem for the government to suitably allocate funds for this purpose.

The parliamentary committee made another recommendation that underlines the salience of securing India’s diplomatic missions around the world. This includes ensuring the safety of diplomats and protecting sensitive information. The recommendation comes at a time when there have been instances of pro-Khalistan elements target diplomatic premises, and New Delhi has a diplomatic presence in regions witnessing unrest. In this light, the recommendation that the external affairs ministry conduct a comprehensive security review of all missions in view of the local geopolitical situation and potential threats makes eminent sense.