India’s thriving, flourishing democratic process wins big in UK
London: As the results of India’s mammoth general election were tallied on Tuesday, the overwhelming theme among UK-based strategic experts and poll watchers was one of high praise for the country’s “thriving and flourishing” democratic process.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party is on course for a historic third term, the strong performance of the Opposition INDIA alliance and other regional parties was a theme that stood out for most.
On the India-UK front, the July 4 UK general elections are expected to fully set the future course for bilateral
relations, resulting in a few new sets of factors playing out amid a broad sense of continuity.
“There were initial concerns over the electoral process in India and these concerns have now been overcome by the results that we’ve seen – that there is a thriving and flourishing electoral democratic process in India,” said Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, Senior Fellow for South and
Central Asian Defence, Strategy and Diplomacy at the London-based think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) told PTI here.
“Within the Indian political setup, the Opposition parties have done better than anyone expected, and they will provide a strong Opposition to the Modi 3.0 government. In bilateral terms, this means there will be more
attempts at checks and balances on India’s foreign policy, including in relation to the UK,” he said.
“So, what we have today is a relatively new set of factors that will be influential and impactful in determining the relationship between India and the UK, though we’ll have to see what
patterns and decision-making structures take place on the UK side after the fourth of July,” he noted.
A key aspect to be watched under the two newly elected governments would be the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA), which the strategic expert believes will be on the top of the in-trays for both amid a “large degree of continuity” for the wider Indo-Pacific region.
“The FTA has been negotiated intensely, with over 14 rounds of negotiation, and that is very close to being concluded. But, of course, the Indian elections meant it has not been able to and now we’ve got the elections over here in the UK in exactly a month’s time.
