{"id":202048,"date":"2022-08-26T18:55:48","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T13:25:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=202048"},"modified":"2022-08-26T18:55:48","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T13:25:48","slug":"india-as-a-foreign-policy-leader-and-balancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/india-as-a-foreign-policy-leader-and-balancer\/","title":{"rendered":"India as a foreign policy leader and balancer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source: <\/strong>The post is based on an article \u201cIndia as a foreign policy leader and balancer<\/strong>\u201d published in the Indian Express<\/strong> on 26th<\/sup> August 2022<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Syllabus:<\/strong> GS 2 International Relations<\/p>\n

Relevance:<\/strong> Evolution of India\u2019s Foreign Policies<\/p>\n

News:<\/strong> India is going to be the next President of the G20. India\u2019s Presidency provides a perfect opportunity and beginning for the next anniversary era.<\/p>\n

What are the principles guiding India\u2019s Foreign Policy?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

National interests are the principal driver of India\u2019s foreign policy. For example, National security remains the key driver.\u00a0Further, India\u2019s Foreign Policies are anchored in a nuanced balancing<\/strong> of interests<\/strong> and values<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Foreign Policies are guided by the belief that external relationships<\/strong> accelerate India\u2019s economic progress.<\/p>\n

Other motivations include the desire to enhance the nation\u2019s standing externally<\/strong> and the impulse to do good for the world. For example, India assisted over 90 countries during Pandemic Covid-19.<\/p>\n

What is the evolution of India\u2019s Foreign Policy?<\/strong><\/h5>\n
During Cold-war Period<\/strong><\/h6>\n

India believed in the ideals of equity<\/strong> like India\u2019s independence would be incomplete without the liberation of Asia and Africa.<\/p>\n

Traditionally, India has acted as a balancer<\/strong> and leader<\/strong>. During the Cold war, India was the leader of the Non-Aligned Movement<\/a><\/strong> and G77. India also remained in proximity with the West and demonstrated the capability to cooperate and communicate with the \u201cother\u201d side \u2014 Russia and China.<\/p>\n

Since its Independence, India has accorded the highest priority to India\u2019s immediate neighbours. <\/strong>For example, India\u2019s contribution to the liberation of Bangladesh and the military interventions in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s foreign policy mainly focused on China and Pakistan due to the history of conflicts between Pakistan and China.<\/p>\n

Post-Cold War Period<\/strong><\/h6>\n

In the post-Cold War period, India has moved more time<\/strong> and resources<\/strong> to careful nurturing relations with the major powers like the US, EU, especially France and Germany, the UK, Japan, Russia and China.<\/p>\n

Post-2014 Period<\/strong><\/h6>\n

From an economy that faced the challenge of feeding its population until the 1960s, India has emerged as the fifth-largest economy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Now, India has ties with countries across regions, i.e., in the South Pacific, through Southeast and South Asia, in other parts of Asia, Europe, the Indian Ocean region, Africa, North America and Latin America. This show India is one of the aspiring<\/strong>, as well as a major player<\/strong> on the world stage.<\/p>\n

The neighbours have not been ignored. For example, equations with Bhutan, Bangladesh and Maldives are excellent.<\/p>\n

Now, India is a leading member<\/strong> of the UN, an oft-invitee to the G7, a founding member of the BRICS, and a pivotal part of the G20<\/strong>. Further, India has become a major stakeholder in the comity of nations.<\/p>\n

What are the challenges to India\u2019s external standing?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

a)<\/strong> India\u2019s relations with its neighbours like Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka seem to have turned since the Covid-19 pandemic, b)<\/strong> both SAARC and BIMSTEC<\/a><\/strong> are not performing at the desired level, c) <\/strong>Despite India\u2019s enhanced GDP and its IT prowess, the doors of permanent membership in the UN Security Council remain shut.<\/p>\n

The importance of Indo-Pacific region<\/h5>\n

The Indo-Pacific Region has emerged as a principal theatre for Indian diplomacy<\/strong> in terms of Foreign Policy. For example,<\/p>\n

(a) India\u2019s continuous focus on\u00a0the ASEAN Grouping<\/strong>, despite the setback of India\u2019s exit from RCEP, is a determined pushback to China.<\/p>\n

(b) Further, India is also partnering with the Quad<\/a>, AUKUS<\/a><\/strong>, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework<\/a><\/strong>, Partners in the Blue Pacific<\/a> <\/strong>etc., as the Indian Ocean region (IOR) is witnessing an active US-China contestation as well as a strong competition between China-India.<\/p>\n

(c) Further, India focuses on Africa\u2019s eastern and southern flanks <\/strong>to enable India to craft a series of initiatives to strengthen cooperation in maritime activity, economic development, and the blue economy.<\/p>\n

Further, the I2U2 (India, Israel, U.S. UAE)<\/strong> has been formed to cause progress in India-UAE, India-Israel and UAE-Israel relations.<\/p>\n

What should be done?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Ministry of External Affairs<\/strong> has been aided by academia, think tanks, civil society and media more than ever before, in terms of foreign policy making. This is a reflection of the maturity<\/strong> and sophistication<\/strong> of Indian democracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: The post is based on an article \u201cIndia as a foreign policy leader and balancer\u201d published in the Indian Express on 26th August 2022. Syllabus: GS 2 International Relations Relevance: Evolution of India\u2019s Foreign Policies News: India is going to be the next President of the G20. India\u2019s Presidency provides a perfect opportunity and… Continue reading India as a foreign policy leader and balancer<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10343,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,10500],"class_list":["post-202048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-indian-express","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10343"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}