Refreshing and energetic! These are the words that best describe PM Modi's foreign policy. Right from inviting SAARC state leaders to the oath taking ceremony and choosing Bhutan for his first official foreign visit to bringing back Indian nurses from strife-torn Iraq, then his refusal to sign the WTO agreement, and more recently the Uranium deal with Australia, all proved this. At the same time Mr Modi, with his recent Japan tour, made his intent clear that he wants to collaborate with the world powers in economic and strategic terms. Tomorrow, he is scheduled to meet the visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and this is to be followed by his engagement with US President Obama this month end. I hope the PM will strike the right note again.

There is nothing to doubt that Modi's Japan visit was a success. During the talks, the Japanese PM Shinzo Abe promised to provide support to India in a number of sectors including railway, mining, construction and bio-technology, besides investing a whooping $35 billion over the next five years in India, with exclusive focus on strengthening India's poor infrastructure. In addition, it is widely expected that the recent bilateral engagements will give a big push to Indo-Japan trade which is only at $9 billion at present. At the same time, the visit was no less important from a strategic point of view, with the two countries taking several important initiatives in defence, and although a nuclear pact could not be signed on the tour, it is widely expected that the gap will soon be closed, driven by the recent developments.

Interestingly, the recent India-Japan talks have raised expectation for higher Chinese investment in India. In fact, days after Mr Modi's Japan's tour, a prominent Chinese newspaper columnist viewed that Japan sought closer ties with India so as to contain China. Similar views are echoed by some Indian media reports also, which add that China is keen to invest in India's railway, manufacturing and infrastructure projects to outwit Japan. There may be some truth in this view, but be that as it may be, I am happy to see that India and China are moving fast towards each other despite some long unresolved border disputes. According to some sources, China is planning to invest around $500 billion overseas in the next five years and I hope the lion's share of it will come to us.

As far as Modi's US visit is concerned, there is not an iota of doubt that it is an opportunity for the PM to take India-US relations — which have been identified as one of the top four priorities also by Obama — to the next level. The US is our second largest trading partner as well as a top investor in India and at this stage of economic development it is all the more crucial for us to deepen ties with the superpower. Till now, our ties have hardly moved away from a buyer-seller relationship and efforts need to be made to change this equation. Similarly, in terms of strategic and defence terms, the two sides need to move to becoming friends rather than remaining mere allies.

I invite your opinions. How do you view these recent diplomatic initiatives by Modi?