Statecraft and Foreign Policy: India, 1947-2023 [Hardback]

India’s increasing importance as an international actor calls for understanding its foreign policy motivations. We argue that India’s earlier non-alignment and its current more prominent role in a multipolar world can be understood as the pursuit of national interests. We explain how India’s foreign policy and international relations developed over time through the influences of national and international structures, institutions, and actors. And we argue that there is more continuity than some political commentary might suggest.

The book explains the interplay between these domestic and international determinants of policymaking – drawing attention to interests, perceptions, treaties, as well as actors’ personalities and values.

We explore the role of state-building and the (re)construction of national identity after Independence in 1947. This book helps to understand significant events such as the nuclearisation of India and Pakistan and India’s bilateral relations with China, the USA, the EU, Russia, and its South Asian neighbours. Special attention is given to the international politics of the global economy, regional security, and climate change.