The new Dynamics of Indian Foreign Policy and its Ambiguities

Abstract

Thanks to the cumulative effects of high economic growth, steady integration with the international market economy, rapid strides in business processing, successful introduction of new technologies of communication and the induction of nuclear weapons and delivery capacity to national defence strategies, the international status of India has altered radically over the past decade. Increasingly, in the domestic political arena, India's leaders see their country as a global player, rather than as a low-income country with poor infrastructure and mass poverty. Suddenly, India is 'everywhere'; but what does it amount to in terms of foreign policy, particularly in terms of the contradictions that underpin it? This article examines the anomalies and missing elements of India's foreign policy, which sometimes create a sense of vagueness and incoherence about her intentions on, and likely reactions to, issues affecting her vital interests. The article illustrates this argument on the basis of an analysis of some core concerns of India's foreign policy, such as nuclearisation, Kashmir, terrorism and India's position in South Asia.