From chanakya to modi evolution of india’s foreign policy

partnership with the US in dealing with China’s rise can deter India from
continuing to seek leadership status of the smaller non-Western nations.
Although India demands absolute autonomy in bilateral relations with
various countries, it is strongly committed to multilateral institutions. For
India, global institutions are a mechanism for building solidarity with the
developing countries and to present India as a role model for former
colonies. During the 1950s and ’60s India championed decolonization
across Asia and Africa. Multilateral institutions are the venue for the
demand by India’s leaders that the leadership of these primarily Western-led
institutions reflect changed global realities. This is the premise behind
India’s claim for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council
and its demand for reformulation of the Bretton Woods financial
institutions. India’s often-defiant stance in international institutions like the
World Trade Organization (WTO) also stems from its desire for a
multipolar world that is no longer dominated by Western powers.
There is a lot in common between both the US and India. Both countries
have a somewhat inward-looking, even quasi-isolationist sentiment while at
the same time seeking the benefits of globalization. For both, their region –
the Americas for one and South Asia for the other – is an area where they

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resent outside interference or military. Each has its own intellectual
framework for exclusion of outside powers, the Monroe doctrine in case of
the United States and the Indira doctrine for India. Both have a deep
national identity and strong sense of national exceptionalism. Both also see
themselves as being different from the old imperialist powers. Finally, both
India and the US emphasize bilateral autonomy in relations with countries
and yet are deeply involved in multilateral institutions like the United
Nations.
India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and his colleagues in the
Indian independence movement sought inspiration from ancient and
medieval India. Ancient philosophers taught them that the subcontinent was
one civilizational and geographical entity. These philosophers also provided
moral attitudes – both idealist and realist – that were adapted to proclaim
that contemporary India can only grow under the shadow of its past. This
general principle, of the present being guided by the past and the future
only reflecting it, has applied strongly to the realm of external relations.
Ancient Indian philosophers emphasized the importance of avoiding
disengagement from other peoples and advised against encroaching on or
taking over territory that was outside the subcontinent. India’s founding
elite embraced the belief that South Asia is central to India’s external
relations and yet India needs to be a vital player in global politics. This
followed from the ancient philosophers’ views, and has been a consistent
pillar of India’s world view since Independence.
The influence of ancient India’s most famous political philosopher
Chanakya lies not only in the symbolism of naming the diplomatic enclave
in New Delhi after him but in the way in which India has sought a system
of layered relations coupled with the mistrust of other nations – the core of
Chanakya’s mandala theory. Chanakya explains why, despite close relations
with Western countries, India still maintains ties with Russia, old friends in

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the developing world from the Non-Aligned Movement and is an active