Speech by Foreign Secretary on India's Foreign Policy at IFRI, Paris, on 4February 2009
I was asked to speak on India's foreign policy. Rather than cataloguing India'srelationships, I thought I would speak briefly on the general characteristics ofIndia's foreign policy, and then discuss in a little more detail two of ourpresent preoccupations: how the strategic shape of the world may be affected bythe present world economic crisis; and, the situation in India's neighborhood. Iwould then be most interested in hearing your views and comments, and couldanswer questions.
Characteristics
At their most general, the goals of India's foreign policy are no different fromthose of other countries – we seek peace and prosperity, or security anddevelopment. Our foreign policy seeks to encourage and create an externalenvironment that furthers these goals.
At the same time, India's particular nature, history, geography andcircumstances shape the unique cast of India's foreign policy and give itcertain particular characteristics:
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- India's size, challenges and choice of political values are, to a very great extent special to us.
- Twenty five years of 6% growth have made a difference to India and given our foreign policy certain capabilities, but we still have a considerable distance to travel. To abolish mass poverty in India by 2020 we need to keep our economy growing at 8-10% each year.
- India is and will remain a developing country for a considerable period; therefore, nation-building or the socio-economic transformation in India must be the primary concern of our foreign policy.
- As a consequence India's foreign policy has a strong multilateralist cast. It recognizes that security in today's world is indivisible. Equally, the pursuit of development and prosperity requires collective international effort. Today, and in the foreseeable future, the issues that will be crucial to India's transformation are global, requiring global solutions --- such as, energy security, environmentally sustainable economic growth, and an open rule-based international trading system.
- Indian nationalism has not been based on a shared language or common religion or ethnic identity. As we sought to build a plural, democratic, secular and tolerant society of our own, it was natural that we would look for and promote the same values abroad, such as democratic decision-making in the international system, and peaceful coexistence.
- Add to this the fact of India's strategic tradition and you will get some sense of why India's foreign policy is what it is. In Kautilya, the third century BC author of the Arthashastra, India has the oldest "realist" strategic tradition in the world. But he was followed in less than a century by Ashoka, the Mauryan emperor who renounced war for conquest by persuasion, an idealist who inspired many subsequent Indian leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru.
