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The foreign policy of a colonial country is very different from that of a sovereign country. Two features of the foreign policy of colonial India were: one, that it was framed in the interest of Britain; and two, that till the very end, the British showed an unflinching determination to maintain their hold on India. This book highlights the weight and significance of India in global affairs because of its huge size, richness of resources, and geostrategic and relational positioning. After independence, India inherited a whole set of notions and practices from the colonial past especially treaty arrangements with smaller neighbours; the nature of interactions with its extended neighbourhood; unresolved border disputes in the north; and the imperatives of ensuring India’s security both on its land and maritime frontiers. In the twenty-first century also, as a rising India reconstructs its foreign policy, some of the themes of the foreign policy of colonial India demand far greater attention. This book provides a model for studying the foreign policies of colonies in the global south. Covering the last fifty years of British rule in India, it focuses on the relations of the Government of India with states along the territorial rim of Britain’s Indian Empire and the regions along the routes that connect Britain with India. Scholars have written hundreds of books on the foreign policy of India since 1947. But, during the last fifty years, virtually no general book has appeared on the period before 1947. This pioneering work aims at filling this hole. It will be of interest to journalists and academics in the fields of modern history, political science, international relations and colonial history of India and South Asia.
A challenging analysis of British Foreign Policy is provided at a time when Britain possessed the biggest Empire that humankind has ever known. In this Empire India had a unique position, comprising 97 per cent of Britain's Asiatic Empire. All British statesmen deemed it essential to maintain their hold over India whatever the risk or cost of doing so. This work focuses on aspects that have been hitherto marginalized. It also contributes to debates surrounding the origins of the First World War, the multipolar diplomacy of the late nineteenth century, and the nature of imperial connections.
The rise of India as a major power has generated new interest in understanding the drivers of its foreign policy. This book argues that analysing India’s foreign and security policies as representational practices which produce India’s identity as a postcolonial nation-state helps to illuminate the conditions of possibility in which foreign policy is made. Spanning the period between 1947 and 2004, the book focuses on key moments of crisis, such as the India-China war in 1962 and the nuclear tests of 1972 and 1998, and the approach to international affairs of significant leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru. The analysis sheds new light on these key events and figures and develops a strong analytical narrative around India’s foreign policy behaviour, based on an understanding of its postcolonial identity. It is argued that a prominent facet of India’s identity is a perception that it is a civilizational-state which brings to international affairs a tradition of morality and ethical conduct derived from its civilizational heritage and the experience of its anti-colonial struggle. This notion of ‘civilizational exceptionalism’, as well as other narratives of India’s civilizational past, such as its vulnerability to invasion and conquest, have shaped the foreign policies of governments of various political hues and continue to influence a rising India.
Following the end of the Cold War, the economic reforms in the early 1990s, and ensuing impressive growth rates, India has emerged as a leading voice in global affairs, particularly on international economic issues. Its domestic market is fast-growing and India is becoming increasingly important to global geo-strategic calculations, at a time when it has been outperforming many other growing economies, and is the only Asian country with the heft to counterbalance China. Indeed, so much is India defined internationally by its economic performance (and challenges) that other dimensions of its internal situation, notably relevant to security, and of its foreign policy have been relatively neglected in the existing literature. This handbook presents an innovative, high profile volume, providing an authoritative and accessible examination and critique of Indian foreign policy. The handbook brings together essays from a global team of leading experts in the field to provide a comprehensive study of the various dimensions of Indian foreign policy.
India is becoming an increasingly visible, powerful and influential state within the global system. As this rise to prominence continues, better appreciating the interests and principles that structure the international interactions of South Asia’s largest state has never been so important. Keen to embrace an expectant future as a great power, India’s transitional journey has been characterised by astounding diplomatic achievements and significant strategic failures. In this robust and comprehensive analysis, Chris Ogden introduces students to the key dimensions of Indian foreign policy from her emergence as a modern state in 1947 to the present day. Combining theoretical insight with numerous case studies and profiles, he examines the foreign policy making process, strategic thinking, the crucial search for economic growth, and India’s difficult regional position and troubled borders. Tracking the trajectory of one of the 21st century’s major Asian and global powers, later chapters focus on New Delhi’s multilateral interaction, great power dynamics, and expanding relations with the United States and the world. Critically assessing what kind of great power India can and wants to be, this wide-ranging introduction will be an invaluable text for students of South Asian politics, foreign policy, and international relations.
Shows how colonial indirect rule and land tenure institutions create state weakness, ethnic inequality and insurgency in India, and around the world.
This book provides an authoritative account of the first significant overseas diplomatic missions and forays made by Indian civil servants. It recounts the key events in the formative decades of Indian foreign policy and looks at the prominent figures who were at the centre of this decisive period of change. The book explores the history and evolution of the civil and foreign services in India during the last leg of British rule and the following era of post-independence Nehruvian politics. Rich in archival material, it looks at official files, correspondences and diaries documenting the terms served by the pioneers of Indian diplomacy, Girja Shankar Bajpai, K.P.S. Menon and Subimal Dutt, in Africa, China, the USSR and other countries and their relationship with the Indian political leadership. The book also analyses and pieces together the activities, strategies, worldviews and contributions of the first administrators and diplomats who shaped India’s approach to foreign policy and its relationship with other political powers. An essential read for researchers and academics, this book will be a useful resource for students of international relations, foreign policy, political science and modern Indian history, especially those interested in the history of Indian foreign affairs. It will also be of great use to general readers who are interested in the history of politics and diplomacy in India and South Asia. Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.