Perspectives on India’s Foreign policy

A country’s foreign policy comprises of objectives, principles and interests which helps it in conducting smooth and prosperous relations with other countries. Foreign policies evolve over a period of time and are generally guided and shaped by various factors like historical, cultural, geographical, political, economical etc. Same is the case with India’s foreign policy which has continuously evolved and adopted policies in compliance with its interests, since 1947. India’s foreign policy has been influenced by themes like tolerance, absence of aggressive imperialist tradition and preference for a middle path. Several texts like Vedas, law books by Manu, Dharamshastras, Epics and Puranas are considered as chief sources of values that are reflected in the Indian foreign policy.

Fundamental principle of India’s foreign policy

The fundamental principle of India’s foreign policy consists of:

• Peaceful coexistence
• Friendship and cooperation among the countries.
• Promote international peace and security.
• Safeguard and protect its national interest and sovereign nature.
• Promote, not only its own economic development but also of other under developing nations.

Evolution and growth of India’s foreign policy

To understand the evolution and growth of India’s foreign policy, one must begin with the pre-independence era. During the British rule, Indians had no say in international affairs as the external affairs were under the British Raj. Indian National Congress and its leaders played an important role in forming the base for India’s foreign policy after independence. After independence, two stages of foreign policy emerged. First was the global order where India strived to establish an independent image and not align with any power bloc. The second was the regional order where it aimed to maintain cordial relations with its neighbours.

In the post-colonial era, the foreign policy was formed according to the needs of newly independent India and keeping in mind the prevailing international conditions. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, was the architect of the Indian foreign policy. He embraced the policy of neutrality and was impressed by the western liberal democracy socialistic values of the Eastern nations. Thus, he followed a synthesis of liberalism and Marxism. He also focused on economic planning and regulated an economic system, with emphasis on the public sector. During his time, the Cold War was already in motion. The world was divided into two blocs- American block and USSR block. The two superpowers were consolidating and forming military alliances. Several newly independent countries came into existence and were on the verge of being influenced by the conflicts of the two superpowers. To avoid such situation, the policy of non-alignment came into existence where the countries stayed away from the power politics and did not align themselves with either of the two blocs.

One of the significant contributions of Nehru in the evolution of India’s foreign policy is the Panchsheel Doctrine. In 1954, Nehru and Zhou Enlai (China’s first Premier) formulated Panchsheel Doctrine which had the following five principles:

              1) Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty

              2) Mutual non-aggression

              3) Mutual non-interference

              4) Equality and cooperation for mutual benefit

              5) Peaceful coexistence

But the Indo-China war of 1962 was a setback to the Indo-China relations. After Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri became the Prime Minister. He followed the footsteps of his predecessor and dealt with the Indo-Pak war of 1965. Tashkent Declaration was signed in his time to resolve the Kashmir issue.  When Indira Gandhi succeeded Shastri, her main objective was to put India on the diplomatic map of the world. During her time several important events occurred like the beginning of detente, signing of Indo-Soviet Treaty of peace (1971), Indo-Pak war of 1971 and subsequent Shimla Agreement (1972) and revival of diplomatic relations with China and Pakistan. Shimla Agreement proved to be a milestone for India-Pakistan relations.

But in the 1980s US support to Pakistan was perceived as a threat by India. After the assassination of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi became the next Prime Minister. His inclination towards the west for technical knowledge improved relations with the west. P.V. Narsimha Rao became the Prime Minister in 1991 after two back to back coalition governments at the centre, failed to provide political stability. He is called as the architect of ‘economic reforms’. His policies led to opening up of Indian economic system. He also focused on improving relations with the neighbours by launching the ‘Look East Policy’ and welcomed peace talks with China.

In 1996, ‘Gujral Doctrine’ was put forth by Inder Kumar Gujral (External Affairs Minister in H.D Deve Gowda government) which is considered as another milestone in India’s foreign policy. This theory says that ‘India would have to establish a faithful relationship with her neighbouring countries’. I.K Gujral also dealt with the issue of signing CTBT which India refused to sign along with NPT as they both were discriminatory. In 1998, India achieved a considerable feat when it detonated five nuclear weapons. At that time, Atal B. Vajpayee was the Prime Minister (NDA government). This incident altered the power equations in the South-Asia region and concerned the major powers. Though India assured that the test was conducted for protection of its interests, it was criticised by the international community. Economic sanctions were imposed on India by US, Japan and their allies. India faced the consequences boldly and emerged as a strong nation. India again faced Pakistan in the Kargil (1999) which created a setback in Indo-Pak relations.

India’s foreign policy in the 21st century

In the 21st century, India began strengthening its ties with US by signing a civil nuclear deal which enabled full civil nuclear energy cooperation and was initiated in 2005. The UPA government (2004-2014) concluded many free trade agreements with Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, SAFTA etc. India also deepened its bilateral agreements with many countries by singing CECA (with Singapore and Malaysia), CEPA (with South Korea and Japan) etc.

Since BJP came to power in 2014, a series of initiatives and MOUs were formulated and signed with various countries. They have helped India in rising as a potential major power. Many trades and defence deals have been sealed with US, Russia, Japan, China, France etc.

India became a member of several regional and international organisations like SCO, MTCR and Australian Group. Developments and initiatives have been taken in the field of trade, maritime security, R&D, defence, space research, health, tourism, and education with other countries. Prime Minister Modi has also, transformed ‘Look East Policy into ‘Act East Policy’ which aims to connect India to East Asia through better infrastructure, trade and regional institutions. He has changed the diplomatic outlook in many ways. He has taken a more aggressive stance towards Pakistan alleged terrorism backing. He also has improved relations with US to counter China’s growing influence and has forged stronger alliances in middle-east, opened up relations with Central Asian countries and increased partnership with east and south-east nations.

There is no doubt that Indian foreign policy has come a long way. It has been continuously evolving. From non-aligning to either of the power blocs and refusing to submit to the influence of cold war, it has emerged as an important political economy in the 21st century. In the post-Cold War era, India underwent significant policy change. In the 1990s, it adjusted its policies and chose economic liberalisation. This opened up plethora of opportunities for India at international level. The change in global order led to necessary paradigm shift in Indian foreign policy. Also, India has recognised the importance of regional and international partnership in the globalised world. It has helped India in enhancing its economic power, energy security and nuclear power as well. Despite the challenges it faced in its way, India continues to emerge as one of the major power in the present global scenario.  

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