Space diplomacy? India’s new regional policy under Modi and the “South Asia Satellite”

Abstract

India’s space program has for long been seen as an underexploited source of its foreign policy and diplomacy. However, there are grounds to support that this has changed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reflected in his proposal for the “South Asia Satellite” as India’s “gift” to its neighboring countries in line with his “neighborhood first” policy. A number of scholars and the media have celebrated the launch of the satellite as an important step toward regional integration and cooperation in South Asia through space diplomacy. Setting the South Asia Satellite in the context of India’s regional policy, this article explains why the utilization of space technology as an instrument of India’s foreign policy may be accelerating now mainly as a response to China’s growing economic and political impact on the region, which also involves the establishment of closer space ties between China and India’s neighbors.