World Focus
Foreign Policy of India: From Vedic Period to the Present Era
Introduction
Let us trace back the pages of history and come across the evolution of our foreign policy from Vedic period to the present era. India is not a country as alone, as it has to exist in the midst of other countries in the world. Each country on this planet has its own culture, traditions, and rituals which are quite different from other countries. Therefore, the law and order, foreign policy and economics of one country also differ from other counties. Therefore, in order to maintain international relations among themselves, they coin their own foreign policy to cope up with the necessities of their own and that of other countries in the world.
The Rig Veda is supposed to be the earliest Veda and the other Vedas like Yajur, Sama, and Atharvana follow it. The Vedic period is a period of Monarchy as king is kshatriya, a term which has its root in kshatra or power. In the Rig Vedic period, the only foreign policy is to conquer the Rakshas (Evils) by the Devtas. Among the Panchabooths, Agni is considered to be the chief of army or senapati to destroy the evils.. In the later Vedic period, the wars between the kingdoms were either to expand the territory or to take revenge.
In Mahabharata, the sabha parva and the shanti parva have spoken about the duties of the royal classes for war. The war of Kurukshetra was fought for a piece of land which the Kauravas denied to pandavas. The war was conquered by pandavas with the blessings of Lord Krishna. In the Ramayana, the Ayodhya kand preaches about the duties of royal classes and their approach to the other kingdoms in a very elaborate manner. Manu wrote a collection of work 'smriti' called manusmriti. Manu reveals knowledge of politics as a foreign policy of high order. The four pillars of foreign policy and political expedients are sama (conciliation), dana (gift), bheda (dissension), and danda (punishment).The other principles of royal policy according to Manu with regard to other countries are santhi (peace), vigraha (war), yana (march), abana (sitting on fences), dvasdhibhava (Splitting the army into two parts) and samsaraya (alliance).These are to be adopted in different sets of time and situations.
Kautilya Arthasastra 650 BC
The earlier perceived text exhibiting every sign of teaching on foreign policy is that of Kautilya's Arthsastfa in 650 be. It was made known to the world only in 1909 AD. Written by a great Indian political thinker of 400 B.C, it has fifteen adhikaranas (Chapters).The second adhikaranas (chapter) explains the theory and practice of foreign policy. Adhikaranas seven (Chapter Seven) contains an exhaustive discussion on six methods of foreign policy and how it can be used in various situations, that are likely to arise in the conduct of foreign affairs. They are called as sadguna or the six basic principles of foreign policy. First, Samdhi (Peace Treaty), second Vigraha (The policy of hostility), third Asana (The policy of remaining quite), fourth Yana (A policy of marching ahead on some war expedition), fifth Samsraya (seeking shelter with another king or fort), and sixth Dvaidhibhava (Double policy- samdhi (Peace with one king) and Vigraha (Hostile policy with another king at same time) The purpose of foreign policy is to increase one's own power at the cost of enemy.
Kamandhakiya 319 BC
Kamandhakiya, who was a disciple of Chanakya, wrote a book based upon Arthasastra called "Kamandhakiya Nitisara" in 319 BC which contains nineteen sections on different heads. The chapters / explain in detail the rules of negotiations, art and science of war, disputes and ways of settlement of disputes with foreign powers, conferences, embassies and spies in a very elaborate manner.
A Snake-Ladder Game
The immediate neighbour state in the front was termed as ari (enemy) stated by Kautilya. This terminology is valid in the fullest sense even today in the case of Indo-Pak relations. History of Indo-Pak relation depicts a Snake Ladder Game. Every step towards the foreign relation between the two countries ultimately becomes the victim of poisonous prejudice and skepticism in spite of a good start. The legacy of communal antagonism, mistrust, suspicion and insecurity which originated before partition did not subside with the creation of India and Pakistan as two distinct nations.
Moreover, there have been continual attempts to impose a political unity over the region. In the 3rd century BC, for example, the emperor Asoka had almost the entire region under his sway; in the 11th century AD, Rajendra 1 Chola conquered almost the whole of India and a good portion of Southeast Asia; and the Great Mughal Akbar again achieved this in the 16th century. Though the expansion and attenuation of boundary lines, the bringing together or pulling apart politically of whole regions have characterized all of South Asian history, the culture has remained essentially one.
India is one of the oldest civilizations with a kaleidoscopic variety and rich cultural heritage. It covers an area of 32,87,263 sq. km. extending from the snow- covered Himalayan heights to tropical rain forests of the world. India is well marked off from the rest of Asia by mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinct geographical entity. Bounded by the Great Himalayas in the north, it stretchers southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west. Lying entirely in the northern hemisphere, the mainland extends between latitudes 8°4' and 37°6' north, longitudes 68°7' and 97°25' east and measures about 3,214 km from north to south between the extreme latitudes and about 2,933 km from east to west between the extreme longitudes.
India has one of the world's most ancient cultures. The earliest records of it are archaeological discoveries in the Indus Valley dating from the 3 millennium B.C. Unlike the cultures of early Greece and Egypt, it has survived the ravages of conquerors, although it is continually being modified. India's size and its compartmentalization by mountains and deserts prevented the political unification that would have led to cultural uniformity. But, Hinduism has been marked by an amazing tolerance of varying metaphysical ideas. Over the ages it has not only permitted the penetration of many revolutionary religious ideas but has actually accepted most of them, even though in doing so it has harboured mutually contradictory dogmas. It is thus not a single creed but a vast assemblage of ideas and practices.
The Glimpse of India's Foreign Policy
The art of conducting the foreign affairs of a country lies in finding out what is most advantageous to the country. It may talk about international goodwill and mean what it says. It may talk about peace and freedom and earnestly mean what it says. But ultimately, a government functions for the good of the country it governs and no government dares do anything which -in the short or long run- is manifestly disadvantageous to the country. The interest of peace is more important, because if war comes everyone suffers, so that in the long-distance view, self-interest may itself demand a policy of cooperation with other nations, goodwill for other nations, as indeed it does demand.
Foreign policy is normally something which develops gradually. Apart from certain theoretical propositions it may lay down, it is a thing which, if it is real, has some relation to actuality and not merely to pure theory. Therefore, it cannot precisely lay down the general outlook or general approach, but gradually it develops to become very friendly with some and hostile to others. That is the normal foreign policy of a country, very friendly with close relations with some and hostile to others. It may be very friendly with all countries.
So ultimately the hostility provokes other people's hostility and that is the way of conflict and leads to no solution. Fortunately, India has inherited no past hostility to any country. Why should then start this train of hostility now with any country? Of course, if circumstances compel it, cannot be helped, but it is far better for to try the utmost to keep clear of these hostile backgrounds. Naturally, again, it is likely to be friendlier to some countries than to others because this may be to mutual advantage. That is a different matter, but even so, friendship with other countries should not, as far as possible, be such that as it brings inevitably into conflict with some other country. Now, some people may think that this is a policy of hedging or just avoiding pitfalls, a middle-of-the-road policy.
The Enrichment of India's Foreign Policy
The security of a country is the most fundamental demand upon foreign policy. Every country's foreign policy is first of all geared to the objective of ensuring the maximum possible security in a given situation. It includes situation in and relations with neighbouring countries, the relations of neighbours with other significant actors in the international arena and your own relations with those actors, the country's place and role in international politics, whether it is a quiet or an unquiet state of affairs on the frontiers; if unquiet how unquiet, and not the least significant internal strength and health of the country which, again, includes economic development and social cohesion, the level of industrialization and modernization of economy; the level of involvement of different sections and groups and regions in a country in the perception that the unity and the integrity of the country is of prime importance.
Security, however, remained a primary and continuing concern of India's foreign policy. Whenever occasion demanded there was a flexible approach keeping in view the country's national interests. The security aspect shall be considered in great depth in a subsequent chapter, but its importance as a determining factor in foreign policy can on, no account, be ignored. Foreign policy is the system of activities evolved by communities for changing the behaviour of other states and for adjusting their own activities to the international environment. It is a systematic statement of deliberately selected national interest.
Foreign policy of any country is the product of a complex interplay of history, geography, past experience, present requirements, perceptions of the ruling elite of national interests and ideological consensus, if one exists in the country, and if not of the leaders of government. It is also shaped and moulded by the domestic balance of forces, the regional balance of forces and the international balance of forces.
The security and economic prosperity are core components, the national interest of a country. The maintenance of international peace, the promotion of international law, or the establishments of global organization are also the objectives of foreign policy. The foreign policy of a nation is conceived in the minds of men who subscribe to certain fundamental beliefs relating to the distribution of power in society, the proper function of government and a particular way of life. Policy is expressed in terms of these beliefs and behaviour, though custom and tradition are major constraints.
Foreign policy always determines on size, geography, economic development, culture and history, great power structure, alliance, technology, social structure, moods of opinion, political accountability, and governmental structure, situational factors- both external and internal. India's security, vital interests, and well- being were intimately tied up with the fate and future of this region. Similarly, India was vitally concerned with developments in South-East Asia, on our doorsteps, the Gulf and West Asian countries, equally our immediate neighbours, and the Indian Ocean area, whose very name testifies to its importance for India.
The compulsions of history, geography and past experience thus were important formative influences on the formulation of India's foreign policy. In addition, it can hardly be overlooked that India's size, potential and perceptions of her elite postulated an intense interest in world affairs and an effort to carve out a place for India's role, certainly a determination not to be ignored and cast aside.
The Spirit and the Development of India's Foreign Policy
India's Foreign Policy spirit developed before her independence in 1947. In fact, the foreign policy was shaped in the 1920s and 1930s where anti-imperialism was the mood of the Indian national movement. Jawaharlal Nehru who was the head of Interim Government in 1946 laid the essential principles of foreign policy and in his famous broadcast in Delhi on September 7, 1946, Nehru expressed that the determination of his government to keep away from the power blocs or groups aligned against one another which have led in the past towards world wars and which may again lead to disasters on an even vaster scale. Moreover, India also maintains traditional values like an understanding of International Relations through the ideals of tolerance and peaceful reconciliation. India has an essence of approach in such negotiations that neither party should suffer a significant loss and to utilize for a common cause and one which is favourable for reconciliation. Nehru's philosophy follows the principles of Gandhi like non-violence to foreign policy that essentially meant fostering reconciliation and peaceful approach in the situation of vengeance and hatred.
India as a country made efforts to mobilize the world opinion for disarmament and halting of the arms race by issuing an appeal on 22nd May 1984, together with Argentina, Mexico, Greece, Sweden and Tanzania to the five nuclear powers. The proposal was successfully adopted at a meeting in Delhi, the capital of India on 28th January 1985. The General Secretary of the then Communist Party of Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev noted: "The proposals expressed in the documents adopted by the six countries and the Soviet proposals point in the same direction." The ultimate goal was to rid the world of all nuclear weapons. India and Soviet Union expressed their concerns about the continuity of arms race, particularly in the nuclear field and its mounting danger to the outer space. On 27th November, 1986, Delhi's Declaration on the principles of a world free of nuclear weapons and violence was adopted during Gorbachev's official visit to India; it paved the "new political thinking" which made the emergence of the response to the needs of an age free of nuclear and cosmic violence. It shows the inviolability of the sovereignty of states where the democratic spirit rules the international community in peaceful coexistence based on mutual tolerance of various socio-economic systems. Further, it also declares that the balance of nuclear terror must be replaced by a comprehensive system of global security and, as a matter of urgency, called for the substitution of trust and mutual understanding for fear and suspicion.
Changing Dimensions of India's Foreign Policy from Cold War to the Present
During the Cold War period, India's foreign policy was governed by a persistent belief in nonalignment with two blocs, although it has always been somewhat closer to the Soviet Union: with the collapse of superpower rivalry, its foreign policy is in increasing disarray. Relations with the United States have varied from strained to warm but have never been overly warm.
Since partition, relations between India and Pakistan have been especially strained and embittered, principally over the long standing territorial dispute over Jammu and Kashmir. Armed conflict over that region in 1947-1948 resulted in the division of Kashmir into Pakistan held and Indian held sectors. There was renewed armed conflict in 1965 and again in 1971 when, following a political crisis in East Pakistan, Indian intervention led to the creation of Bangladesh. Despite periodic efforts to improve relations, tensions persist. India also has an outstanding territorial dispute with China involving 37,500 square kilometres (14,500 sq. mi.) of territory in the Aksai Chin area of Kashmir and 93,250 square kilometres (36,000 sq. mi.) of territory in Arunachal Pradesh. The dispute escalated into a military conflict in 1962, and relations have been strained ever since. During the 1980s, India emerged as a major factor in South Asia. It is trying to bring about multilateral cooperation in South Asia under the auspices of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
The Trend of Non- Alignment as India's Foreign Policy
Non-alignment became the logical framework of India's foreign policy. An independent foreign policy responded to the conscious and sub-conscious urges of the people, imparted a sense of pride and belonging and helped cement the unity of the country, for this foreign policy secured a consensus and was taken out of the ambit of day-to-day politicking. The intrusion of foreign policy into domestic policy would have vitiated the domestic situation, divided the people and created new tensions in the country. Through the adoption of a policy of independence, support to the anti-imperialist struggles elsewhere and through a policy of promoting peace in the world, Jawaharlal Nehru took foreign policy out of the vortex of domestic politics and made it sub-serve the cause of unification and stability in the country.
The non-aligned movement historically grew out of the immediate need after World War II to avoid bloc division and resist pressures by big powers for alignment; and undoubtedly this remained a powerful motivating force for the non-aligned countries, but the non-aligned movement spawned an entire historical epoch and went far beyond a mere staying out of military blocs. It was not a search for equidistance or neutrality, although individual countries might have thought only in those terms.
The non-aligned movement came to stand for a struggle for strengthening the independence of the newly emerging countries and against colonialism and imperialism. Military blocs were also a manifestation of colonialism in a new garb. The non-aligned movement's struggle against imperialism, neo-colonialism and racialism and promotion of peaceful co-existence and the right of small countries to determine and shape their own future defined the parameters of India's foreign policy.
Non-alignment's aim was to strengthen international peace, not through division of the world, but through the expansion of the areas of freedom, independence and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. Foreign policy being a dependable variable is conditioned by a large number of factors. Among such mixed determinants of foreign policy, domestic factors are particularly important. A State's external behaviour is, of course, conditioned by the international system.
The domestic sources of foreign policy are so numerous that the task of tracing the way in which they guide that policy constitutes a profound theoretical challenge. It requires nothing less than the application of a comprehensive multi-disciplinary approach to know how the domestic physical, socio-cultural and politico-economic environment of a country moulds its foreign policy.
India's Foreign Policy Trends on Social Structure
A vast country with an equally large population, India is almost a world in miniature. It has a large variety of social, religious, linguistic, regional groups and a great amount of diversity in political opinions and economic interests. Prior to the advent of the British rule in India, various regions had different historical experiences. Although the subcontinent came less than one umbrella during the British rule, yet even at that time, diversities in terms of regional development and in terms of benefits enjoyed by the English-knowing elite and non-English knowing people continued.
India's foreign policy, must, therefore, be fully geared to the complex task of integrating the diverse socio-cultural fringes of its population. The recruitment of foreign policy to this task of nation-building demands that foreign policy must be based on a broad consensus; this compulsion, along with the earlier discussed traits of Indian culture, explains why Indian leaders tried to refrain from embarking on radical shifts in not only domestic but in foreign policy as well. In other words, India's domestic diversity, when projected into foreign affairs, inevitably led to a policy which could neither be pro-US nor pro-Communist.
India's Foreign Policy was originated on the principle of non-alignment, a phenomenon distinct from isolationism, non-commitment, neutrality, neutralization, unilateralism and non-involvement is a course of foreign policy arising from the attitude of non-acquiescence in the bipolarisation of the world politics. Strategically, India's Foreign Policy was to serve its national interests and maintain the ability of a nation to protect its internal values from external threat.
India's foreign policy during the last 68 years of its independence is changing as per demands of global scenario, regional and domestic imbalance, and paradigm shift of thoughts of various governments in India to readjust India's foreign policy within the overall framework of global constraints.
The most fundamental goal of foreign policy, that is protecting India's autonomy in international politics, however, remains the chief guiding factor in the framing of New Delhi's external behaviour in the Pokhran and post-Kargil era. European military j meddling in Asian countries as part of a NATO force could revive bitter memories, the oppressive imperial era and hinder of reconciliation between pacific Europe and resurgent Asia.
In a globalised world, India's Foreign Policy will have to focus increasingly on economic objectives enhancement and attracting foreign investment and advanced technologies to enable the countries achieve a steady growth of eight to ten per cent of the GDP per annum to realize the dream of the nation's leaders of freedom struggle to transform India into a great power.
A Paradigm shift is taking place in the debate on what should ^e the role of the constituent units in a federation in the making and implementation of its foreign policy. Not so long ago, the prevailing view was that while a country may adopt the federal system as a way of preserving its "unity in diversity," to quote Jawaharlal Nehru's often-quoted and celebrated phrase about the Indian federation, it was no less entitled than a unitary Government to speak with a single voice in the international arena and have a single unified, national and nation-wide foreign policy for the country as a whole.
From the perspective of India's principal fault-lines, it is obvious that demographic pressures, regional and income disparities, populist democracy, ethno-religious diversities and the deteriorating resource environment poses a dangerous mix for the near future, and will impact social cohesion and good governance, and thereby economic growth. While a great deal will depend on tackling the constraints in the domestic economy and polity, maintaining a benign external environment will also play a crucial role in achieving India's objective. India's foreign policy must, therefore, have a sharply defined strategic objective which is strongly related to clearly articulated interest.
The international scenario has compelled India to redefine its national interests and major adjustments in the spheres of both foreign policy and international relations theory. These homogonous tasks, coupled with an attendant polarization of opinion on how to deal with them, have pitted India's policy makers and experts against each-other in a battle of worldviews. This debate is far from its end. Neither new security identity nor coherent foreign policy strategy are found yet.
The analysts of Indian foreign policy continue to differ on many important theoretical and practical issues: meaning of India's national interests and security; correlation between 'hard' and 'soft' security; the role of International organizations in ensuring national and international security; civilization orientations; use of military force; functional and regional priorities; particular ethnic, religious and territorial conflicts etc.
Internal Security
While the probability of the major military conflict has always been low, the main security challenge for India has been internal security, with threats emanating mainly from religious radicalism, Maoism and populist parochialism, which increasingly culminates in often and again has culminated in violence and terrorism. Although there has been no foolproof defence against such threats, India must give the highest priority to tackling them effectively.
In this context external policy has a critical role as the principal internal security threats are linked to enduring systemic and natural vulnerabilities of the wider region within which India is located. External dimensions of these threats include international ideological linkages, cross-border support to insurgent and terrorist groups, and financial flows to them through NGOs as also illegal channels. Securing effective cooperation from neighbouring states particularly Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and the Gulf therefore becomes necessary.
Multilateralism and Indian Diplomacy
Multilateralism encompassing both regional and global cooperation constitutes the most perceptible trend of the post-Second World War international relations. Led by the leading integration model of EU, Arab League, LAFTA, NAFTA, MERCOSUR, AU, APEC, Gulf Council, ASEAN, ECOWAS, ASEAN+3 and BIMST-EC are other examples of regional integration in the contemporary global politics. For effectively and properly dealing with the challenges of national security, India as an emerging regional power has to mandatorily play an effective role in the global institutions of international governance. This implies India's political and economic engagement with the world holistically, leveraging its vast market, human resource potential, scientific and technological infrastructure along with defence industrialization programmes. All these can provide new stimulus for this relevant and meaningful engagement with the world today.
To gauge critically the performance of Indian foreign policy on the parameters of national security, first a better understanding of how India's foreign policy language has evolved becomes mandatory. For this, the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Defence documents of the Government of India as primary sources have been analysed. This analysis provided a ring-side view about India's security perceptions and intrinsic ideological coordinates offered a proper comprehension of India's foreign policy behaviour and action.
Traditionally, security meant collective security, i.e., state security. Now, the trend has shifted towards the individuals. The created paradox is that the individuals and states provide both threats as well as security is an interactive manner. In this regard, security is a relative concept. Till the Cold War era, the nature of national security was identified within militarized parameters. But the current discourse on the perspectives of national security has encompassed the human dimensions coupled with the military priorities.
The Future
A grand external strategy would require that interactions between different strategic objectives be examined to arrive at the right balance. There is clearly a possibility of a trade off between some interactive objectives, and even between components of an objective. Despite the heightened expectation of the global community, the implications of India’s enhanced role in global issues and governance need to be looked at within the parameters of its growth and security objectives. In case of contradictions, the former should be given lower priority in the conduct of the country's foreign policy. This does not, in any sense, imply an abdication of global responsibilities, but rather that India cannot afford to let them pose a trade-off on the more important aspects of its national security. Today standing on the crossroads of global highways of the international politics and relations, it is India's moment of millennial opportunity. The challenge is to convert the national hope into reality. To make a great leap in congruence to our collective Vision of 2020, an intellectual foreign policy is the only panacea for all evil
