Critically examine the major factors responsible for a turn around in the trajectory of India's foreign policy in the post-cold period. (UPSC CSE Mains 2022 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 2)
- The end of the Cold War came as a blessing in disguise as it forced Indian policymakers to adapt to the new global political and economic realities — it was a much-needed shock.
- At this point, India’s economic reforms put the nation on a high-growth trajectory, plunging it willy-nilly into the realm of great power politics. And as a new decade dawned at the beginning of a new millennium, India seemed poised to be at the threshold of achieving the status of a major global power, emerging as an indispensable, albeit reluctant, element of the new global order — exemplified by its growing economic and military might. Indian democracy became so much more attractive after the Indian economy started delivering strong results.
- India’s foreign policy challenge in the early 1990s was as profound as the economic one. The world had suddenly become unipolar with India’s main ally, the Soviet Union, virtually disappearing from the world map. New Delhi had to link its economic policy with foreign policy more effectively. Recognising that India would need the support of the West and especially the US if the economic reforms were to succeed, Rao laid the foundations for a revival of US-India ties acknowledging the importance of the US in the global strategic architecture. In the Middle East, Rao had the courage that no other Indian leader had. He established full diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992 even as he reached out to Iran, paying a landmark visit to Tehran in 1993, becoming the first Indian prime minister to visit Iran since the 1979 revolution. The ‘Look East’ policy had to be initiated as the centre of gravity of global economics was shifting to the East and India’s economic future needed to be linked to the booming economies in East Asia. India had to expand its engagements with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) not only as a matter of India’s economic revival, but also as a counterweight to rising Chinese dominance.
- The sanction of the early 1990s is everywhere in Indian foreign policy today: Moving away from non-alignment to issue-based alignments; Delhi’s subtle balancing act in the Middle East; trying to establish a stable balance with China; more robust defence diplomacy in key global geographies; the outreach to East and Southeast Asia as part of India’s ‘Look East’ and ‘Act East’ policies; and helping India achieve enough economic heft to withstand sanctions after the NDA government conducted the nuclear tests at Pokharan-II. At the end of the 1990s, India conducted atom bomb tests in 1998, for the second time since 1974. These tests were vehemently denounced worldwide, but helped to elevate India’s image as a major power.
- All these policy initiatives impressed the world with a fresh image of India, but they were miscellaneous initiatives without any clear indication of a new objective of India’s foreign policy. Naturally, India’s foreign policy invited various critiques: ‘Even as India’s rise in the interstate global hierarchy continues steadily, its policymakers still act in the international arena as if India can continue to afford the luxury of responding to foreign policy challenges on a case-by-case basis with no requirement for a long-term strategic policy framework. The same ad hoc-ism that had characterized Indian foreign policy in the past lingers’. Similarly, Rajiv Sikri (former Foreign Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs) said ‘India must have a clear grand strategic design’.
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