At the end of the month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan from 29 August to 1 September. In Tashkent he reviewed cooperation with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in a range of areas, including trade, investment, defence, digital connectivity, energy and education. After this Modi reached Bishkek, where he participated in the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
Central Asia is becoming increasingly important for India's connectivity, energy and security policy. At the SCO forum, India gave prominence to security, connectivity and opportunity as well as cooperation against terrorism, separatism and extremism.
In August, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar also reached Moscow. During the visit from 23-24 August, he co-chaired the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission meeting and interacted with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as well as senior leadership.
Issues like energy, fertilizers, nuclear energy, hi-tech and trade were prominent in his meeting with President Vladimir Putin. This visit took place at a time when western countries are keeping an eye on India's economic relations with Russia at the global level.
India-China diplomacy was also important in August. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held the 25th Special Representative Meeting on the border question with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on August 25. Both sides discussed the possibilities of moving forward in bilateral relations while maintaining peace and stability along the border.
This dialogue is important in the sense that the border dispute between India and China still remains the most sensitive issue of relations. India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Sri Lanka on 5 August. He met the Sri Lankan leadership, including President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and reviewed bilateral relations and ongoing development projects with Indian assistance.
The two countries also continued work on updating the free trade agreement and pursuing a social security agreement. India's cooperation related to infrastructure and reconstruction of Sri Lanka also gained importance in this tour.
India-Palestine development partnership also got a new dimension in August. The two countries signed agreements related to the establishment of a 200-bed super-speciality hospital and a vocational training center in the West Bank.
The initiative comes at a time when the health system in Gaza and the wider Palestinian territories is under severe pressure. India has indicated its continued role in Palestinian development including health and humanitarian assistance.
A symbolic but important development was also seen in India-Pakistan relations in August. Unauthorized structures and barricades were removed outside the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi, after Pakistani authorities removed some temporary structures outside the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs described it as a 'proportionate response'. This development shows that amid tensions in relations between the two countries, even small administrative and diplomatic actions are now taking the form of reciprocal reactions.
If we look at the overall picture of August, a clear pattern is visible in India's foreign policy, which affirms 'simultaneous dialogue with multiple powers and regions'. At the same time, the BRICS summit to be held in September can prove to give a bigger dimension to this active diplomatic month.