PVLF 2025

K.V. Prasad’s New Book Highlights Parliament’s Role in Shaping Foreign Policy

Discover K.V. Prasad’s book Indian Parliament: Shaping Foreign Policy, exploring Parliament's vital role in key diplomatic decisions and foreign policy debates.
on Jan 16, 2025

Indian Parliament's Impact on Foreign Policy: K.V. Prasad's Book

Veteran journalist K.V. Prasad has come out with a provocative book titled Indian Parliament: Shaping Foreign Policy. The author focuses on the vital role the Indian Parliament plays in shaping the foreign policy of the nation. From a four-decade-long journalistic career and, particularly, the opportunity to experience as a Fulbright Fellow, studying the U.S. Congress for 2007–2008, he studies the decisive events in the country's political history and how these have affected decisions on foreign policy.

Inspiration Behind the Book

According to Prasad, the book is inspired by the coverage of parliamentary proceedings and defense, foreign, and strategic affairs reporting. The period spent covering the U.S. Congress overlapped with debates on the India-U.S. nuclear deal, a landmark shift in Indian foreign policy. It was then that he decided to study Parliament in the making of diplomatic strategies further.

Major Parliamentary Debates
The book focuses on three crucial debates under three governments:

Deployment of Indian Peacekeeping Force in Sri Lanka.
India accession to the WTO.

The Indo-U.S. Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement

This is one in a series of cases demonstrating that Parliament is setting the direction in India's Political and Foreign policy frameworks.

India-U.S. Relations in the Biden Presidency

Prasad mentions that India-U.S. relations have gradually moved forward over the last two decades. With President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, ties went deeper in defense, security, and technology. The administration focused on climate change initiatives and strengthening the Quad partnership. Though there were issues in trade, human rights, and policy differences, the overall trend was positive, with substantial collaborations in emerging technologies such as AI, 5G, and cybersecurity.

Expectations for the Trump Administration

Prasad anticipates that President Trump's second term will only continue to build strategic ties with India, riding on the chemistry between PM Modi and Trump. But challenges are expected to come from the "America First" agenda, with a focus on trade deficits, tariffs, and market access, which may have to be delicately negotiated for both sides to balance their bilateral interests.

Indian Government's Priorities

For the Modi government, engagement with the U.S. remains at the top of the agenda. Key areas are issues related to Indian Americans: H-1B visa caps, green card backlogs, and dual social security contributions. Prasad mentions that these issues need to be addressed while fostering people-to-people ties and the growing influence of the Indian diaspora.

Indian American Influence

Indian Americans are a 4.5 million-strong community and play a very important role in strengthening U.S.-India relations. Their contributions cut across a wide range of fields, and immigration reforms and policy advocacy are key priorities. Prasad stresses that PM Modi has been consistent in his outreach to the diaspora, with the historic Howdy Modi event in 2019 being an example.

K.V. Prasad's book provides a detailed examination of how Parliament debates influence foreign policy, which is valuable for policymakers and scholars alike.