After India gained Independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, it strongly supported independence movements in other colonies. Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, was the architect of India's foreign policy. During the Cold War, India adopted a foreign policy of not aligning itself with any major power bloc. However, India developed close ties with the Soviet Union and received extensive military support from it. The end of the Cold War significantly affected India's foreign policy, as it did for much of the world. In the post-Cold War era, a significant aspect of India's foreign policy is the 'Look East Policy' launched in 1992. India's growing economy, strategic location, and a large and vibrant Diaspora have won it more allies and partners. The foreign policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicates a shift towards focusing on the Asian region and, more broadly, trade deals. This volume contains 9 research articles, authored by scholars in the field of political science, international relations, comparative politics, economics, security studies, and political economy. These contributions provide useful material to understand contemporary dynamics of India's foreign policy and diplomacy. [Subject: South Asian Studies, Politics, International Relations, History]Ã?Â?Ã?Â?

The notion that a monolithic idea of ‘nonalignment’ shaped India’s foreign policy since its inception is a popular view. In Power and Diplomacy, Zorawar Daulet Singh challenges conventional wisdom by unveiling another layer of India’s strategic culture. In a richly detailed narrative using new archival material, the author not only reconstructs the worldviews and strategies that underlay geopolitics during the Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi years, he also illuminates the significant transformation in Indian statecraft as policymakers redefined some of their fundamental precepts on India’s role in in the subcontinent and beyond. His contention is that those exertions of Indian policymakers are equally apposite and relevant today. Whether it is about crafting a sustainable set of equations with competing great powers, formulating an intelligent Pakistan policy, managing India’s ties with its smaller neighbours, dealing with China’s rise and Sino-American tensions, or developing a sustainable Indian role in Asia, Power and Diplomacy strikes at the heart of contemporary debates on India’s unfolding foreign policies.

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.