From chanakya to modi evolution of india’s foreign policy

Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years
has referred to the incident
being characterized by ‘a blame game’ while others refer to its handling as
‘mismanagement.’
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 The then external affairs minister Jaswant Singh wrote
later in his book 
India at Risk
, ‘…the failure to organise the logistics
[during the hijacking crisis] is one bureaucratic muddle that still amazes
me.’
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The terrorists demanded the release of several terrorists held in Indian
prisons and threatened to kill all passengers on board if their demands were
not met. They killed one passenger to demonstrate the seriousness of their
threat. The cabinet decided not to give in to the demands of the terrorists
but the media and public opinion led the government to reverse their initial
determination. India released three terrorist leaders in return for the safe
release of all Indian hostages. The three terrorists returned to Pakistan after
being escorted to Kandahar on a special plane by the foreign minister and
India’s intelligence chief. They were subsequently found engaged in
terrorism again, albeit with enhanced clout for winning freedom through a
daredevil act.

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Vajpayee’s prestige was seriously dented by his concession though he
shared blame with his cabinet. During both Kargil and Kandahar, while
Vajpayee discussed the issues with this entire cabinet, the decision at the
end of the day was his alone. His NSA, Mishra, was most likely the only
other person involved in the difficult choices. Due to the omnipresence of
Mishra and Vajpayee’s implicit trust in him, the role of the foreign minister
had already become limited to those areas where the PMO was simply not
interested.
The situation changed considerably when well-known economist
Manmohan Singh became prime minister. As a former civil servant
Manmohan Singh was known for following rules and he had experienced a
cabinet position while serving as Rao’s finance minister. Unlike other prime
ministers, Manmohan Singh did not hold office in his own right but rather
as a nominee of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. During his ten years as
prime minister, real power lay not in his PMO but in the office of the
president of the Congress party. The prime minister had his own outlook on
world affairs. He sought better ties with India’s neighbours, including
Pakistan, as well as with the United States. The limitations of his authority
coupled with the demands of coalition politics severely limited Manmohan
Singh’s ability to drive the agenda of the government he headed.
Manmohan Singh’s close advisers recall that during his tenure the
Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) met every week but the prime
minister rarely spoke or intervened during its proceedings. Instead of the
CCS, key decisions were discussed in the weekly meeting of the Congress