New Delhi: The Tribune reports that it has accessed fresh Cabinet Secretariat guidelines and found that “prior Cabinet approval will no longer be required for certain international instruments signed during an official visit of the Prime Minister to a foreign country, or during the visit of a foreign head of state to India.”The Cabinet Secretariat periodically issues instructions, conveyed to secretaries of all Union ministries under the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961, specifying which matters must be brought before the Cabinet for prior approval, post facto approval, or information.Prime minister Narendra Modi attempting to free himself from his own cabinet, is being seen as a signature shift.The newspaper writes that international instruments include “agreements, conventions, protocols, memoranda of understanding (MoUs), joint declarations of intent, statements of intent, memoranda of cooperation and memoranda of association entered into with foreign countries.”Under the new guideline, as reported by the newspaper, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is emerging as a note-taker as it “will prepare a Cabinet note every six months placing all such instruments before the Union Cabinet for information, along with a list of all that has been signed during the period. [Emphasis added].India accepting the terms of the India-US interim framework, or the Executive Order constraining India’s energy choices, a strategic area for the world’s largest country were done apparently after a “phone-call” between President Trump and PM Modi. Unlike the Presidential system in the United States of America, in India, a cabinet system of government prevails. The prime minister is only “the first amongst equals.” Responsibility on behalf of the executive at the centre is borne by the union cabinet, collectively.Article 75(3) of the Indian constitution reads, “the Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the House of the People.”There has been sharp criticism of PM Modi for excessive reliance on a personal form of diplomacy (“hugplomacy”) which has not helped India navigate choppy international waters.The signing of other treaties and MoUs involving one of India’s two biggest industrialists, Adani, at the back of Modi visits to countries, especially Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Israel have come under scrutiny. The Adani group has denied receiving any special favours. But now, it seems even Modi’s own colleagues will have virtually no opportunity to scrutinise such agreements, let alone push for a change of direction. Reliance companies, led by the Ambanis, India’s richest conglomerate have also been beneficiaries of deals signed with other countries.Modi leads a minority Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in India since June 2024, where he and the government depends on the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janta Dal (United) (JD (U))for political survival.