At the onset of 2015, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj declared that, while 2014 was a year of breakthrough diplomacy for India, in the new year New Delhi will focus on diplomacy for development with a new vision and renewed vigor.
While there is little novelty in this statement, what makes it unique is the circumstances that accompany it.
The election of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government with an absolute majority in May 2014 was closely followed by the sharpest drop in global oil price in the last five years. BBC reported that since June 2014, oil prices have more than halved.