Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 November 2018
Summary
The study of Indian foreign policy has been undergoing a significant shift in recent years with new themes and new theoretical approaches emerging and newer voices adding their vibrancy to the field. This project was commissioned by Cambridge University Press (CUP) to specifically examine the impact of the emergence of Narendra Modi as India's Prime Minister in 2014 on the study and practice of Indian foreign policy. As we thought about the project more, we concluded that though the debates about the impact of Modi on the study of Indian foreign policy would continue, the field has been undergoing an evolution of its own. So this volume turned out to be not about Narendra Modi's impact on Indian foreign policy per se but about the key debates in Indian foreign policy as they have evolved over the last few years. In some cases, Modi's personality and convictions have had a role to play but in others, underlying institutional, structural and ideational factors beyond Modi have been powerful drivers of Indian foreign policy's trajectory.
I would like to thank CUP for giving me this opportunity, allowing me to relook at the state of the field. The whole team at the CUP – Qudsiya Ahmed, Sohini Ghosh, Aniruddha De – was very encouraging even as the project took much more time than was earlier anticipated. The contributors to this volume have been extremely cooperative and their patience in seeing this volume through to publication is much appreciated. I would also like to thank the two institutions I am associated with – the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, and King's College London – for giving me time and space to conclude this project. Finally, thanks are due to my family members who make sure that I remain insulated to concentrate on my projects.
This book is dedicated to the emerging new voices in the study of Indian foreign policy who, slowly but surely, are transforming the subject. More power to them!
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- New Directions in India's Foreign PolicyTheory and Praxis, pp. vii - viiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019