Chanakya Kautilya’s philosophy and its influence on current Indian Foreign policy

Abstract

After the decolonization of the sub-continent, India's behavior in the international community has been quite different and is worth the scholarly exploration in terms of foreign policy analysis. India adopted a Non-aligned movement during the cold war, considered itself a great power, and demanded a permanent seat in the UN. These policies adopted by India entice the scholars to make an in-depth analysis of the discourse adopted by India post-1947 which seems to be greatly influenced by the philosophy of Kautilya. This paper will examine the influence of Chanakya Kautailya's philosophy in the current foreign policy of India. Content Analysis of six foreign policy techniques which are written by Kautilya in his book Arthashastr adopted as a research methodology. The realism theoretical paradigm is an appropriate theory to understand this research phenomenon. Previous studies suggest that there is always an influence of Kautilya's philosophy that has been seen in Indian foreign policy. This paper explores the various philosophies of Kautilya regarding foreign policy and its implementation in the current Foreign Policy of India.