US Secretary of State's Refinery Visit Highlights Corporate Diplomacy

Foreign policy has never been only the work of governments. European states used their East India companies in the 17th century to mix trade and statecraft. Large firms have shaped diplomacy ever since. The American saying 'what is good for General Motors is good for America' showed this link for decades. It still applies today, but the companies have changed. Wall Street banks and Silicon Valley technology firms now have weight in US foreign policy. China built the same idea into its system through its 'go out' policy, which started in the late 1990s. This is a state strategy that pushes domestic firms to expand abroad. The goal is to widen Beijing's economic and political reach.

India has its own history of this kind of corporate diplomacy. However, it has been less visible. After the 1973 oil crisis, a prominent Indian business family used its commercial ties with Iran. They helped restart talks between Delhi and Tehran that had stopped. After India's 1998 nuclear tests brought international criticism, the same channel helped rebuild engagement with the United Kingdom. In the 1990s, American firms such as General Electric lobbied within the US system. They built support for closer ties with India. This shows the process works both ways. It is not something only large or authoritarian states can do.

This pattern has grown stronger as Indian firms have become large enough to matter globally. Foreign leaders once toured the Infosys campus in Bengaluru to show India's IT success. More recently, a British Prime Minister chose to meet India's Prime Minister in Mumbai rather than Delhi. The visit included meetings with Indian industrialists and film producers. Where Indian capital has scale or a distinctive advantage, it increasingly becomes part of the diplomatic equation.