1 - India Foreign Policy
1 - India Foreign Policy
which determine where a country should put its military and diplomatic capital to further its
national interests
OBJECTIVES
PRINCIPLES
DETERMINANTS
Chinmay Ghare Khan: Any country’s foreign policy is a means to ensure its global image and Conclusion - PEGH
to further its national interest
India’s foreign policy
Morgenthau - Supreme goal of any FP is the protection of its national interest is governed by its
history, geography,
Hence India’s foreign policy has been to protect and promote what it perceives as its national economy and polity
interests and to project India’s image at the global geo-political arena Still common aim
remains to
How India Sees the World: Our national interests cannot be absolute. They have to be in a zone achieve further well-
of relativity taking into account national interests of other. Ex. Test ban in Indo-US nuclear deal being of its
A successful foreign policy is one which provides a country’s political leadership with a range of citizen interest
options and expands its strategic space.
MODI DOCTRINE
India first
Engaging competing global powers (Quad-SCO; Israel-Arab; Saudi-Iran)
Focus on diaspora (Madison Square event)
Modi government’s Panchamrit are:
o Samman — dignity and honour in global politics;
o Samvad — greater engagement and dialogue;
o Samriddhi — shared prosperity;
o Suraksha — regional and global security; and
o Sanskriti evam Sabhyata — cultural and civilizational linkages.”
Modi’s policies are built Nehru’s shadow still looms large Increased decisiveness
on the past Obsessed with Territorial integrity Attitude of major power
Difference - Energy and Coalitions not alliances o 3rd largest economy in PPP terms,
Reluctant to use force 3rd largest military, 5th largest
military spending
Working within International law
style o ICJ; Chagos; Palestine
Averse to Grand strategizing
Increase India’s soft power
Rajiv Sikri (“Indian Foreign Policy: Determinants, Issues and Challenges”): India indulged in moralistic
posturing, and had an air of self-importance and self-righteousness as it strutted on the world stage with
lofty statements that did not match its real strength. It is only under Prime Minister Modi that this
deeply ingrained attitude has begun to change. India’s foreign policy today is not hobbled by ideology or
sentimentalism. India is seeking friends and partners, though not as a supplicant or as a weak country
that can be manipulated and wants to be a "leading power,” not just a balancer or a "swing state” in the
international system.
Harsh V Pant
Amitabh Mattoo
Arul Louis
Nehruvian idealism to
Realpolitik 5 elements of Modi Doctrine
Decisive Break
Modi doctrine - replaces the Strong, self-reliant and confident India
Instead of Cold war
long term foreign policy of Peaceful, stable and economically integrated
tactics -> Open
non-alignment South Asia
dialogue and
Vigorous pursuit of Maritime Emphasis on Soft power – (Traditions, Talent,
engagements
powers Tourism , Trade, Technology)
Less talk of vestiges of
Continuity with Manmohan Multiple alignments with all great powers instead
colonialism - more
Doctrine on economic front of non-alignment
reliance in India’s
Helped India position itself Willingness to raise issues of concern at bilateral
Traditions and culture
in leading role rather than level
just a balancing force.
Happymon Jacob
1. Bureaucratic adhocism P. Stobdan: Security centric zero-sum game.
2. Tactical considerations
3. Political expediency M.K. Narayanan: failed to change anything in
4. No grand strategic blue-print substance
5. Securitization of Indo-Pak relations
6. Antagonized Russia and China Manoj Joshi: Lack of coherent structure
7. Compromised with strategic autonomy by aligning with USA
Shangri-La
At a time when world is facing power shifts, India would portray itself as independent
power.
“Our friendships are not alliances of containment”
“India does not see Indo-Pacific as a strategy or club of limited members. Nor as a
grouping that seeks to dominate
India’s own engagement in the Indo-Pacific region from the shores of America to Africa
will be inclusive
Free, open and inclusive regions and rules based order. “Rules and norms should be
based consent of all and not powers of few.
Asia of rivalry will hold us back, Asia of cooperation will shape this century.
Emerging multipolar world is becoming too complicated for binary choices.
Zorawar Daulat Singh: Modi has combined Orthodox ideas from Cold war era with 21st century
pragmatism.
Conclusion: Fundamental objectives of FP like economy and security remain same, what
changes are the methods to achieve those objectives. India is today less of rule-taker and rule-
breaker than before.
Access to wisdom and collective experience of their Napolean Bonaparte: Any country’s foreign policy is
predecessors. determined by its geography
China - 2 centuries of humiliation It is said that we can change history but not geography
o China - irredentist state - strategic culture - The most permanent and stable element of the foreign
expansion policy
Colonial Legacy Dis-advantaged countries
o Inherited 627 treaties as legal o Landlocked
and sacrosanct o Tropical
o Foreign policy structure from British India o Bordering superpowers
o C. Rajamohan: Curzon and Nehru WORLD EXAMPLES
o Border Disputes; Aksai Chin, McMohan o USA – large landmass - helped follow
line Isolationist policy
o Colonial weight - territorial integrity and o Britain - Naval superpower
external sovereignty - NAM - Strategic o Russia- buffer states
Autonomy – Anti-imperialism Nehru: India is a bridge b/w East and the West and
o Pakistan becomes inevitably involved in major global issues
o Treaty Diplomacy - ToP,F,C - Nepal, Vajpayee: One can change friends, but not neighbours
Bhutan Non-Alignment: presence of USSR and China in
The loss in the war with China continues to neighbourhood.
dominate Indian prism of looking at geo-political India’s unresolved borders - China, Pakistan - conflict
relations & Discord
However, national interests always trump history. India’s central position in Indian Ocean -
Ex. Japan’s closeness with U.S. despite nuclear o Pivot to Asia
bomb; EU after World Wars. o World trade and commercial intercourse
M.K. Narayanan: One should not forget history, o Strong contender as a Net security provider in
however, one should not also be prisoner of history the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)
Other criticisms of historical approach to o Security of IOR important
comparative politics Basis of foreign policy. Ex. Look east, west and north.
Contextual approach India’s large size - cannot be easily defeated in war -
lot of territory to take over. Ex. - Hitler could not beat
Economy Russia
Karakoram and Himalayas - natural barrier in the
Reason for US hegemony northern frontier.
Developed Countries : Highly industrialized and India building Chabahar port to bypass tyranny of
economically developed geography
Requirement of raw materials leads to mercantilist Determine the needs as well as capabilities of a nation
foreign policy- development of underdevelopment to fulfill the needs of its ppl
Can use foreign aid as a means of foreign policy Role of geography has declined due to technological
Economic progress has led to rise of rest. and scientific advancements.
Japan and Germany as trading states. C. Rajamohan: Geographies are not static, they evolve,
India is storehouse of vast natural resources: led to sometimes slowly and quickly at others. How we
pacifist tradition imagine and construct regions changes according to
NAM was also a result of economic compulsions: circumstances. The British Raj extended from Aden to
aid from both blocs Malacca at its peak. “South East Asia” did not exist
South-South cooperation, NIEO. until the Second World War. The “Asia-Pacific” came
Economic crisis in 1980s led to new set of foreign into usage only in the late 1980s. The “Indo-Pacific”
policy from 1991. was a novelty a decade ago.
Relations with Russia, West Asia, East Asia etc. George Heine and Prof. Ramesh Thakur call
Manmohan Singh tried to use economic globalization as end of geography
interdependence to improve relations with Pakistan
India is a subcontinent with an extremely Sudden changes, disturbances within the internal
complex heterogeneous society environment influence the nature and course of foreign
Diff - ethnic, religious & linguistic groups present policy
in India US - stability - but recent instability like the white
Domestic consensus is considered as strength of supremacist rally at the time of high tensions with N.
Foreign policy of a nation. Ex. Inter-war Korea
Germany Too much focus on the domestic politics leaves lesser
o But in a prismatic society like India, it scope to focus on the outside world.
becomes challenging to arrive at a Syria - Civil war
domestic consensus Institutions, electoral system, social structure,
o Complications increase because of government system etc.
unnatural partition India -> Role of parliament, coalition politics, pressure
o Civilisational state groups etc.
Nehru said: foreign policy is extension of
domestic policy. Leadership
Various fp decisions
o Palestine: Talmiz Ahmed – secular; But Thucydides in “The Peloponnesian War” showed
CRM - sentiments of minority contrast between noble Pericles and self-seeking
o SL: Tamil factor-> policy of sailing in 2 Alcibiades.
boats Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Kautilya have all focussed upon
qualities of king.
o Bangladesh: Illegal immigration-> social Role of leaders like Wodrow Wilson, Churchill, Stalin,
violence in north-east Gorbachev
o Nepal: relation of kinship: Roti-beti ka Morgenthau based human nature and statecraft as the
rishta (S.D. Muni) basis of foreign policy.
India itself is in a process of nation building and In India, Nehru -> I. Gandhi -> Vajpayee -> Manmohan -
faces secessionist movements > Modi
o Fact that same ethnic gps are present in With rise in mixed-actor model, decision-making has
the bordering areas impact both how India become diffused
looks at its neighbours and vice versa Role is constrained by social structure and institutions.
Role of culture. According to Nehru, foreign policy is often determined
Role of economic structure of society. Ex. Young by domestic policy.
demography; inequality
Culture
Culture shapes our world view. Thus cross-cultural interactions between different world
views thus can produce conflicts (Clash of civilizations)
John Kincaid
Traditional Approach
Harsh V Pant
Contemporary approach
Once a unit joins a
Liberalisation and Globn Federalization of India’s
federation - external
Para Diplomacy foreign policy
sovereignty ends
o Federal units have started Decentralisation of foreign
Confederation vs
conducting international relations policy - because global
Federations
directly. politics= glocal
IC - Foreign Affairs -
o No longer seen as obstacles but
Union List
Drivers of Growth
New global disorder: Since the end of cold war, old order has crumbled but new order
has not yet come into existence
The current world order is in a state of flux (C. Rajamohan: )
o Trump’s unilateralism and deviation from traditional American foreign policy.
o To hedge against current volatility, multiple alignments are taking place. Ex.
SCO, India-Japan, India-South Korea etc.
o U.S. allies are pursuing strategic autonomy.
o It has persuaded China to show greater flexibility towards India and Japan.
o If Sino-US tensions have opened up space for India, those between Washington
and Moscow shrink Delhi’s room for manoeuvre.
o U.S.-North Korea thaw has left East Asian region in vacuum.
o ASEAN (Indo-pacific) has become new battle-ground for great power games.
Harsh V. Pant: Not only geo-politically, but also technologically world order is
witnessing flux.
o Cyber-security and tech-race has become a new battle arena for countries.
o Technology has been disrupting relation between state and population and
creating new concerns like inequality.
C. Rajamohan (“Rearranging the BRICS”): The world is no longer similar to 1990s when India readily
entered into RIC strategic triangle to promote multipolar world against American interventionism. No
world is shifting from US-led globalization to a Chinese-led one. In this context BRICS no longer is
ideological posturing in India’s strategic book-keeping but is a mode to place itself in global power
relations.
Suhasini Haider: At a time of flux across the world fuelled by America’s capriciousness, West Asia’s
internal combustion, China’s aggression and Russian inscrutability, India is certainly well poised to be a
democratic, dependable leader of an alternative global coalition. The government must, however, be
more sure-footed and clear of its own principles of engagement.
Rajiv Sikri (“India’s foreign policy challenges”): First, India itself must have a strategic vision. One could
say that India has three security rings. The innermost ring is from the Hindu Kush through the Himalayas
to the Irrawaddy, the natural geographic boundaries of the Indian sub-continent. What happens here is
of direct and vital interest to India. The second ring extends from the Straits of Aden and Hormuz to the
Malacca Straits, the choke points of the Indian Ocean in the west and east. The outermost ring covers
the expanse from Suez to the Pacific Ocean rim, the extremities of the Asian continent. These three rings
constitute India’s immediate, extended and strategic neighbourhood respectively.
Whoever controls Indian ocean India needs to ensure that Fortunately India has come out of
would dominate Asia Indian ocean remains India’s its CONTINENTAL mindset
Ocean More open than ever in working
India’s freedom depends upon
Indian ocean is the key to 7 seas with like-minded countries.
domination of the Indian Ocean
India must learn from its past
Robert D. Kaplan (“Monsoon”): Future of Gurpreet Khurana: India’s geo-strategic
mistakes
politics will unfold over Indian Ocean. frontier is expanding.
Indian Ocean
Geostrategic Steps taken by India
o Choke points –
Bab-al Mandab, Maritime Doctrine, 2015: Ensuring Safe Seas
Hormuz, Malacca o SAGAR: security cooperation: Role of Net security provider
o String of Pearls o Tri-lateral security framework with Sri-Lanka and Maldives
o China’s base at o Multilateral cooperation on non-traditional security
Djibouti o Blue economy: Sagarmala
o Other major o Cooperate with major power: Military exercises -> Malabar, SIMBEX,
powers like USA, JIMEX, Konkan
Britain, France Collaborating with like-minded countries to ensure freedom of navigation,
o Non-traditional
combat piracy, response to disaster management
threats-> Somali o U.S. -> Malabar, LEMOA, QUAD
Piracy, Drug
o Japan -> Malabar, QUAD, AAGC
Trafficking,
o Singapore-> Logistics, SIMBEX, Changi
Migration and
human trafficking o France->Framework for strategic coordination in Indo-Pacific.
Geo-econ o Indonesia-> Global Maritime Fulcrum Policy, Jaypura naval base
o Emerging market o West Asia-> Duqm port, Chabahar
economies in o Africa-> visited littoral states.
littoral states o South-Korea’s New Southern policy + Act East
o World Trade Revitalizing IORA, BIMSTEC, Indian Ocean Naval Symposium
o Energy Security Sambandh initiative with 10 Indian Ocean littoral states, involving maritime
o Ocean resources - naval exercises.
Fishing, PMN, Syed Munir Khusru: Act East Policy with maritime cooperation and naval
exercises along with joint explorations.
Quad and concept of Indo-pacific.
Engagement with Pacific-Island nations.
JAI meet in Buenos Aires G-20 meet.
Quad- Indo-pacific
Shinzo Abe (“Asia’s Democratic Security Diamond”): Peace, stability and freedom of
navigation in the Pacific and Indian Ocean are inseparable. All four powers should work
together.
Abe referred to book by Dara Shikoh describing “dynamic coupling” of the Indian and
Pacific oceans as the “confluence of the two seas”.
C. Rajamohan (“Samudra Manthan”): The seas of western-pacific and the Indian ocean
must be seen as a single integrated geo-political theatre, the Indo-Pacific
The term Indo-Pacific itself denotes the centrality of India in regional security
architecture.
USA has renamed its Pacific command as Indo-Pacific command.
ARIA, a bill that attempts to counter Chinese hegemony and covers US relations with
India, Japan, South Korea, the Pacific Islands and the ASEAN countries among others.
ARIA authorizes $1.5 billion every year to be appropriated for the next five years for
enhanced diplomatic and economic assistance to countries of the region.
Why India accepted Quad? Why India should not accept Quad.
India cannot solely fulfill desired They argue that India is needlessly dragging itself into the US-China
role in 'neighbourhood first' policy. rivalry.
India’s neighbours—as foreign U.S. is already a receding power and by co-opting itself in US plans,
secretary S. Jaishankar has pointed India will stand to lose out.
out—are bound to feel more We need strategic autonomy. India's independent decision-making may
reassured. get impacted
Insecurities out of India's competing India should be focussing more on Indian Ocean region than Indo-pacifi
economy and delays in projects are where it may stand to lose out its strategic leverage and image as a
also likely to be assuaged. balancing force.
Natural evolution of Act East policy Major Powers in region will further exacerbate regional rivalries.
Shyam Saran: Quad is an anchor for Shiv Shankar Menon: The concept of free and open Indo-Pacific
the Indo-Pacific assumes significance of only maritime region, while ceding continental
power to China. For India, both are important and thus focus should by
on both
Way forward:
IORA
Established in the 1990s, IORA is a regional forum that has IORA Summit in Jakarta 2017 - Drew attention to a range of
not particularly been significant in shaping the choices of its issues
21 littoral members.
Tripartite membership - Govt, industry, academia come Econ
together with Open regionalism o Trade and investment and economic
Aims cooperation
o Fisheries Mgt - IUU fishing
S Development o Blue Economy
Enhance economic association Security
Mutually beneficial cooperation through consensus o Maritime security
based non-intrusive approach o Drug and Human Trafficking
o Terrorism
Result o Piracy
Others
No binding agreements o Disaster Risk Mgt
Min Institutionalization o P2P exchanges
Indian Diaspora
India was initially sensitive to the view that championing the cause of overseas Indians
might offend the host countries, who should be fully responsible for their welfare and
security
Rajiv Gandhi was the first Prime Minister who changed the diaspora policy by inviting
Indians abroad, regardless of their nationality, to participate in nation-building. Ex. Sam
Pitroda
The outreach to NRIs began institutionally through Pravasi Bhartiya Divas during the
time of Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
According to C. Rajamohan, Modi has made it a key area of national priority. For Modi,
the diaspora is an ‘asset’ rather than a ‘liability’
o 3 Cs: Connect with India; celebrate their heritage; contribute to development of
homeland
31 million strong Diaspora over 100 countries- Indian Issues
diaspora have been found to be world’s largest as per o Volatility in West Asia
World Migration Report 2018. o Labour rights in West Asia
How India See the world: Throughout history, India was o Visa issues
a remarkably cosmopolitan place with diverse ethnicities. o Domestic concerns that public money is
Maybe this is Indian diaspora’s secret of success. spent on NRIs who left India
Contributing significantly o People leaving to join ISIS.
o Investment o India does not have evacuation policy and
o Transfer of tech ad-hoc measures are undertaken.
o Foreign trade o T.P Srineevasan: Merger of Ministry of
o Remittances - 5 lakh cr Overseas Indian Affairs with the Ministry
o Act as Informal Ambassadors- Help cultivate soft of External Affairs;
power o irregularity of diaspora conferences
o Soft Diplomacy - lobbies for Indian interests What should be done - CRM
USA - Indian community lobbying o More of
o Kargil war support New York - Madison Square
o Nuclear tests support London- Wembley Stadium
o Civil Nuclear deal o Encouraging back into India - significant
Kanwal Sibal - core Foreign policy objectives skill sets and tech knowledge
Govt steps Identify sectors of impact
o Emigration Bill 2019 Identify individuals
o Indian Community Welfare Fund Identify technologies.
o Online platform- MADAD o Encouraging to invest in social sector -
o Pravasi Bharatiya divas rural sanitation, health initiatives, edu - by
o PB Samman Awards easing the rules and increasing efficiency
o Know India Program o Rescue efforts - SM, Rahat - sense of
o Study India Program entitlement in diaspora
o OCI scheme o Sreeram Chaulia: We will need to do
o Skill Banks more to ease entry of foreign funds into
o Sreeram Chaulia: MoOI had become office of the country through NRI routes
patronage for politicians. Now it has been done o Try to organize the fragmented Indian
away with population in one country into one
o Embassies are now much more sensitive to needs powerful lobby
of Indian diaspora.
Conclusion: While we need a coherent policy to engage our diaspora, it needs to be inclusive of
elite sections of USA and Europe, working class from Middle-East, farming community from
Africa etc.
Space diplomacy
Jan 2019, page 19