92 trips to 57 countries since 2014: Here's what PM Narendra Modi achieved

With 92 trips to 57 countries since coming to power in May 2014, Modi has flown abroad nearly twice as much as his predecessor Manmohan Singh in five years.

Business Standard : As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi bids for reelection, his party has said his skillful diplomacy on the world stage has increased India’s global stature and brought in a flood of investment.

But what exactly have Modi’s foreign travels achieved? With 92 trips to 57 countries since coming to power in May 2014, Modi has flown abroad nearly twice as much as his predecessor Manmohan Singh in five years.

While Modi’s visits have won praise from supporters for boosting India’s global profile, the costs associated with them -- and the optics of traveling abroad so often in a country where many farmers are struggling -- have triggered some criticism. The main opposition Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused Modi of ignoring problems at home.

A closer look at Modi’s trips show that while some have yielded vague agreements that may not develop into anything substantial, doubters may still be exaggerating the negatives. Summit meetings accounted for roughly a third of Modi’s visits. And his arrival in each foreign capital made a symbolic statement about New Delhi’s world outlook.

Modi also made a point of repeatedly meeting leaders such as Japan’s Shinzo Abe and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, whose countries provide much-needed industrial investment and defense technology. Here’s more:

Record FDI

Foreign direct investment into India in Modi’s first term amounted to $193 billion, 50 percent more than the preceding five years.

At the same time, despite a high-profile push to generate jobs through manufacturing, much of the FDI has continued to flow into India’s services and capital-intensive industries, not labor-intensive ones.

While Modi won investment commitments from longstanding economic and strategic rival China, it largely remains a non-starter. FDI from China totaled $1.5 billion in the four years to March 2018, data from India’s central bank show, against $20 billion President Xi Jinping promised in the five years from 2014.