Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-03T17:52:01.915Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - The Transformation of India's Foreign Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Sumit Ganguly  and
Rahul Mukherji
Sumit Ganguly
Affiliation:
Indiana University, Bloomington
Get access

Summary

The Past as Prologue

From the vantage point of the Cold War's end, India's pursuit of a foreign policy based upon nonalignment now appears quaint at best and hypocritical at worst. It appears quaint because after its initial phase the policy ill-served India's interest and appears hypocritical because the country often failed to live up to its cherished principles. This was especially true after it signed a treaty of “peace, friendship and cooperation” with the Soviet Union effectively aligning India with the Soviet Union. Yet some understanding of the historical context that spawned the doctrine reveals that it was not bereft of utility to India's national interests.

Prime Minister Nehru, who was the principal architect of independent India's foreign policy, had fashioned this doctrine for a number of compelling reasons. Perhaps the most compelling were the memories of British colonial domination. Consequently, the notion of subordinating the nascent country's foreign policy to the interests and proclivities of either emergent superpower bloc was repugnant. Nehru was also acutely concerned about the possibilities of Bonapartism and the militarization of Indian society. Associating India with one of the two power blocs could, in his view, lead India to divert its scarce resources toward unwanted military spending. Finally, nonalignment was also part of a larger strategy to transform the global order. Nehru and others had hoped that it would contribute to the strength of multilateral fora, hobble the use of force in international politics, reduce global inequalities, and bring an end to the last remnants of colonialism.

Type
Chapter
Information
India Since 1980 , pp. 18 - 59
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Singh, Surinder Nihal, The Yogi and the Bear (Riverdale, NY: Riverdale Company, 1988)Google Scholar
Keenleyside, T. A., “The Inception of Indian Foreign Policy: The Non-Nehru Contribution,” South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 4:2 (1982): 63–78CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nehru, Jawaharlal, The Discovery of India (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990)Google Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit, “From the Defense of the Nation to Aid to the Civil: The Army in Contemporary India,” Journal of Asian and African Affairs 26 (1991): 1–12Google Scholar
Ajami, Fouad, “The Third World Challenge: The Fate of Nonalignment,” Foreign Affairs 59:2 (1980–1): 366–85CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sardesai, D. R., Indian Foreign Policy in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, 1947–1964 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968)Google Scholar
Hoffman, Steven, India and the China Crisis (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990)Google Scholar
Thomas, Raju G. C., The Defense of India: A Budgetary Perspective on Strategy and Politics (New York: Macmillan, 1978)Google Scholar
Kavic, Lorne J., India's Quest for Security: Defence Policies, 1947–1965 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967)Google Scholar
Kapur, Ashok, India's Nuclear Option: Atomic Diplomacy and Decision Making (New York: Praeger, 1976)Google Scholar
Krasner, Steven, Structural Conflict: The Third World against Global Liberalism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985)Google Scholar
Bradsher, Henry, Afghanistan and the Soviet Union (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1985)Google Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit, Conflict Unending: India-Pakistan Tensions since 1947 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001)Google Scholar
Horn, Robert, Soviet-Indian Relations: Issues and Influence (New York: Praeger, 1982)Google Scholar
Hart, Henry, ed., Indira Gandhi's India: A Political System Re-Appraised (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1978)Google Scholar
Mohan, C. Raja, Crossing the Rubicon: The Shaping of India's New Foreign Policy (New Delhi: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2003)Google Scholar
Gourevitch, Peter, “The Second Image Reversed: The Domestic Consequences of International Politics,” International Organization 32:4 (1978): 881–912CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muni, S. D., “India and the Post-Cold-War World: Opportunities and Challenges,” Asian Survey 31:9 (1991): 862–74CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit, “South Asia after the Cold War,” The Washington Quarterly 15:4 (1992): 173–84CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumaraswamy, P. R., “India and Israel: An Emerging Partnership,” in India as an Emerging Power, ed. Ganguly, Sumit (London: Frank Cass and Company, 2003), 192–206Google Scholar
Kumaraswamy, P. R., India's Israel Policy (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horn, Robert C., “Afghanistan and the Soviet-Indian Influence Relationship,” Asian Survey 23:3 (March 1983): 244–60CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gupta, Bhabani Sen, The Afghan Syndrome: How to Live with Soviet Power (London: Croom Helm, 1982)Google Scholar
Kydd, Andrew H., Trust and Mistrust in International Relations (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005)Google Scholar
Mehta, Jagat, a former Indian foreign secretary, “Afghanistan: A Neutral Solution,” Foreign Policy 47:3 (Summer 1982): 139–53CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Racioppi, Linda, Soviet Policy towards South Asia since 1970 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garthoff, Raymond, Détente and Confrontation: American-Soviet Relations from Nixon to Reagan (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1985)Google Scholar
Mansingh, Surjit, India's Quest for Power: Indira Gandhi's Foreign Policy (New Delhi: Sage Publications, 1982)Google Scholar
Weismann, Steven and Krosney, Herbert, The Islamic Bomb (New York: Times Books, 1981)Google Scholar
Kapur, Ashok, Pakistan's Nuclear Development (London: Routledge, 1987)Google Scholar
Moshaver, Ziba, Nuclear Weapons Proliferation in the Indian Subcontinent (New York: Palgrave, 1991)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit and Hagerty, Devin, Fearful Symmetry: India and Pakistan in the Shadow of Nuclear Weapons (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004)Google Scholar
Singh, Gurharpal, Ethnic Conflict in India: A Case-Study of Punjab (New Delhi: Palgrave, 2000)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jeffrey, Robin, What's Happening to India? Punjab, Ethnic Conflict, Mrs. Gandhi's Death, and the Test for Federalism (New York: Holmes and Meyer, 1986)Google Scholar
Akbar, M. J., India: The Siege Within (New York: Penguin Books, 1985)Google Scholar
Frankel, Francine, India's Green Revolution: Economic Gains and Political Costs (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971)Google Scholar
Wallace, Paul, “Political Violence and Terrorism in India: The Crisis of Identity,” in Terrorism in Context, ed. Martha Crenshaw (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994)Google Scholar
Bajpai, Kanti, Chari, P. R., Cheema, Pervez Iqbal, and Ganguly, Sumit, Brasstacks and Beyond: Perception and the Management of Crisis in South Asia (New Delhi: Manohar, 1989)Google Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit, “Getting Down to Brass Tacks,” The World and I May (1987): 100–4Google Scholar
Brines, Russell, The Indo-Pakistani Conflict (New York: Pall Mall, 1968)Google Scholar
Byman, Daniel, Deadly Connections: States that Sponsor Terrorism (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit, The Crisis in Kashmir: Portents of War, Hopes of Peace (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997)Google Scholar
Schofield, Victoria, Kashmir in the Crossfire (New York: I. B. Tauris, 1996)Google Scholar
Thomas, Raju G. C., Perspectives on Kashmir: The Roots of Conflict in South Asia (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992)Google Scholar
Widmalm, Sten, Democracy and Violent Separatism in India: Kashmir in Comparative Perspective (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)Google Scholar
Hagerty, Devin, The Consequences of Nuclear Proliferation (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998)Google Scholar
Smoke, Alexander George and Richard, Deterrence in American Foreign Policy: Theory and Practice (New York: Columbia University Press, 1974)Google Scholar
Malik, General V. P., From Surprise to Victory (New Delhi: HarperCollins, 2006)Google Scholar
Swami, Praveen, The Kargil War (New Delhi: Leftword, 2000)Google Scholar
Singh, Amarinder, A Ridge Too Far: War in the Kargil Heights 1999 (Patiala, India: Motibagh Palace, 2001)Google Scholar
Krishna, Major-General Ashok and Chari, P. R., ed., Kargil: The Tables Turned (New Delhi: Manohar, 2001)Google Scholar
Musharraf, Pervez, In the Line of Fire (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006)Google Scholar
Gauhar, Altaf, “Four Wars and One Assumption,” The Nation (Pakistan), September 5, 1999Google Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit, “Pakistan's Never-ending Story: Why the October Coup Was No Surprise,” Foreign Affairs 79:2 (2000): 2–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett-Jones, Owen, Pakistan: Eye of the Storm (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003)Google Scholar
Rabasa, Angel, Blackwill, Robert D., Chalk, Peter, Cragin, Kim, Fair, C. Christine, Jackson, Brian A., Jenkins, Brian Michael, Jones, Seth G., Shestak, Nathaniel, and Tellis, Ashley J., The Lessons of Mumbai (Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation, 2009)Google Scholar
Weiner, Myron, “The Macedonian Syndrome: An Historical Model of International Relations and Political Development,” World Politics 23:4 (1971): 665–83CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit, “The Sino-Indian Border Talks, 1981–1989: A View from New Delhi,” Asian Survey 29:12 (1989): 1123–35CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jencks, Harlan, “Lessons of a ‘Lesson’: China-Vietnam, 1979,” in The Lessons of Recent Wars in the Third World, vol. 1, Approaches and Case Studies, ed. Harkavy, Robert E. and Neuman, Stephanie G. (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 1985), ch. 7Google Scholar
Garver, John W., The Protracted Contest: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Twentieth Century (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001), 219–20Google Scholar
Foot, Rosemary, “Chinese-Indian Relations and the Process of Building Confidence: Implications for the Asia Pacific,” The Pacific Review 9:1 (1996): 58–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dutta, Sujit, “Sino-Indian Diplomatic Negotiations: A Preliminary Assessment,” Strategic Analysis 22:12 (March 1999): 1821–34CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frazier, Mark W., “China-India Relations since Pokhran II: Assessing Sources of Conflict and Cooperation,” AccessAsia Review 3:2 (2000): 5–36Google Scholar
Kux, Dennis, India and the United States: Estranged Democracies, 1941–1991 (Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, 1992)Google Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit, “Of Great Hopes and Bitter Disappointments: U.S. Policy toward India during the Johnson Administration,” Asian Affairs 15:4 (1988–9): 212–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollen, Christopher, “The Tilt Policy Revisited: Nixon-Kissinger Geopolitics and South Asia,” Asian Survey 20:4 (1980): 339–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garten, Jeffrey E., “The Big Emerging Markets,” The Columbia Journal of World Business 31:2 (Summer 1996): 6–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubinoff, Arthur, “Missed Opportunities and Contradictory Policies: Indo-American Relations in the Clinton-Rao Years,” Pacific Affairs 69:4 (1996–7): 499–517CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Power, Samantha, A Problem from Hell: America in the Age of Genocide (New York: Perennial, 2003)Google Scholar
Rubinoff, Arthur, “Changing Perceptions of India in the United States Congress,” Asian Affairs: An American Review 28:1 (2001): 37–60CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Talbott, Strobe, Engaging India: Diplomacy, Democracy and the Bomb (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2004)Google Scholar
Rice, Condoleeza, “Campaign 2000: Promoting the National Interest,” Foreign Affairs 79:1 (2000): 45–62CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, James, The Rise of the Vulcans: The Rise of Bush's War Cabinet (New York: Penguin, 2004)Google Scholar
Woodward, Bob, Bush at War (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004)Google Scholar
Jervis, Robert, “Understanding the Bush Doctrine,” Political Science Quarterly 118:3 (Fall 2003): 365–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chace, James, “The Death of American Internationalism,” World Policy Journal 20:2 (Spring 2003): 1–5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tellis, Ashley, “The Evolution of U.S.-Indian Ties: Missile Defense in an Emerging Strategic Relationship,” International Security 304 (Spring 2006): 113–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit, “South Asia after the Cold War,” The Washington Quarterly 15:4 (Autumn 1992): 173–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Etter, Lauren, “India: Global Partner or Nuclear Threat?” The Wall Street Journal, March 4–5, 2006, A7Google Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit and Mistry, Dinshaw, “The Case for the U.S.-India Nuclear Agreement,” World Policy Journal 23:2 (Summer 2006): 11–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perkovich, George, India's Nuclear Bomb: The Impact on Global Proliferation (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999)Google Scholar
Abraham, Itty, The Making of the Indian Atomic Bomb: Science, Secrecy and the Postcolonial State (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998)Google Scholar
Kapur, Ashok, Pokhran and Beyond: India's Nuclear Behavior (New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2002)Google Scholar
Mattoo, Amitabh, ed., India's Nuclear Deterrent: Pokhran II and Beyond (New Delhi: Har Anand, 1999)Google Scholar
Singh, Jasjit, ed., Nuclear India (New Delhi: South Asia Books, 1998)Google Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit, “India's Pathway to Pokhran II: The Sources and Prospects of India's Nuclear Weapons Program,” International Security 23:4 (1999): 148–77CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tellis, Ashley, India's Emerging Nuclear Posture: Between Recessed Deterrent and Ready Arsenal (Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation, 2001)Google Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit, “Why India Joined the Nuclear Club,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 39:4 (1982): 30–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, Rodney W., Tracking Nuclear Proliferation: A Guide in Maps and Charts (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1998)Google Scholar
Smith, Chris, India's Ad Hoc Arsenal: Direction or Drift in Defense Policy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994)Google Scholar
Thomas, Raju G. C., “India's Nuclear and Space Programs,” World Politics 38:2 (January 1986): 315–42CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mistry, Dinshaw, “The Unrealized Promise of International Institutions: The Test Ban Treaty and India's Nuclear Breakout,” Security Studies 12:4 (Summer 2003): 116–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keenleyside, T. A., “Nationalist Indian Attitudes towards Asia: A Troublesome Legacy for Post-Independence Indian Foreign Policy,” Pacific Affairs 55:2 (1982): 210–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thakur, Ramesh, The Politics and Economics of India's Foreign Policy (London: C. Hurst and Company, 1994), 237–8Google Scholar
Pillai, M. G. G., “Archipelago of Dreams,” Outlook (New Delhi), February 12, 2001Google Scholar
Khurana, Gurpreet, “Cooperation among Maritime Security Forces: Imperatives for India and Southeast Asia,” Strategic Analysis 29:2 (2005): 295–317Google Scholar
Griffin, Christopher, “Containment with Chinese Characteristics: Beijing Hedges against the Rise of India,” Asian Outlook 3 (September 2006), http://www.aei.org/outlook/24873 (accessed January 15, 2011)Google Scholar
Berlin, Donald L., “India in the Indian Ocean,” Naval War College Review 59:2 (Spring 2006): 58–89Google Scholar
Monsonis, Guillem, “India's Strategic Autonomy and Rapprochment with the U.S.,” Strategic Analysis 34:4 (July 2010): 611–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haqqani, Husain, Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005)Google Scholar
Ganguly, Sumit, “The Kashmir Conundrum,” Foreign Affairs 85:4 (2006): 45–57Google Scholar
Nye, Joseph S., Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (New York: Public Affairs Press, 2004)Google Scholar
Mohan, C. Raja, Impossible Allies: Nuclear India, United States and the Global Order (New Delhi: India Research Press, 2006)Google Scholar
Rana, Kishan S., Asian Diplomacy: The Foreign Ministries of China, India, Japan, Singapore and Thailand (Malta and Geneva, Switzerland: DiploFoundation, 2007)Google Scholar
Pai, Nitin, “The Capacity to Engage,” Pragati: The Indian National Interest Review 33 (December 2009): 7–12Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×