Celebrations over, all eyes on Narendra Modi's foreign policy

New Delhi: The man who chose to give himself the “outsider” tag is all set to head the Indian government. And not just the country but the world awaits with bated breath for Mr Modi to unveil his foreign policy approach.

Those in the government and the foreign policy experts and even Mr Modi’s close aide Amit Shah concede that a change in government does not entail a drastic change in foreign policy.

However, what will be carefully watched is any recalibration in appro-ach that a Modi-led government may effect, particularly in relation to countries like Pakistan, China and the US.

While this is not expected to happen over-night, the manner in which a Modi-led government will engage with India’s immediate neighbours as well as the world at large will be closely watched.

His government is expected to adopt a “muscular” approach as opposed to a risk-averse approach that the UPA government chose to follow.

Among Mr Modi’s  immediate foreign policy challenges, will be the Indo-Pak ties that have been in a state of friction ever since the beheading of an Indian soldier on the LoC in January 2013. The peace dialogue has remained stalled since and both sides would like to resume the peace process.