India’s Foreign Policy-Notes

 

India’s Foreign Policy-Notes

What are we going to learn in this chapter ? We have got introduced to the international system and its nature and the cold war in the last century and its effects. We shall now get introduced to other related issues. Thus, we shall learn about the meaning of foreign policy, factors that make an impact on it and the nature of India’s foreign policy Meaning and Importance : All countries are members of the international system. We have already studied that none of these countries is completely selfreliant and hence there is mutual interdependence in the international system. Only this interdependence should not be of benefit to a few countries.

Efforts need to be made to ensure that it benefits every nation. Each country has to decide the nations with which it should be friendly, in which bloc it should participate or what position it should take in international relations. Such decisions should be made thoughtfully. The theoretical framework in which such decisions are taken is called foreign policy. Every sovereign and independent country decides its own foreign policy. Hence in the discipline of international politics, which studies the international relations between nations, foreign policy has an important place.

National Interest: We have briefly understood what foreign policy means. National interest and foreign policy are closely connected to each other. National interest is fostered through foreign policy. Therefore, before studying foreign policy further, we need to understand the meaning and significance of national interest. National interest implies the means through which the independence and sovereignty of our country can be safeguarded. National interest also includes efforts to achieve our economic development and to take steps towards increasing our national power. When decisions are taken after giving a careful thought to what is beneficial and good for our country, we say that we are nurturing our national interest.

In this sense, the following factors are included in the national interest of any country. Defence, i.e. the protection of our country’s independence, sovereignty and integrity is the highest national interest. Economic development is also an important national interest. An economically weak nation will not be able to maintain its independence. Hence economic development is understood to be an important national interest, next only to defence. National interest and Foreign Policy: Foreign Policy is drawn up to foster the national interest of defence and economic development. National interest is considered to be the goal and foreign policy is considered to be the means to achieve it. Goals of nations change with changes in conditions and time. Accordingly, national interest also changes.

These changes are reflected in the foreign policy. Therefore, foreign policy is always dynamic. Factors influencing Foreign Policy : Foreign policy decides what kind of relations to have with which country in the international system. But several factors affect foreign policy while it is being decided. (1) Geographical Location : You must have seen the globe or map of the world. You can see the geographical location of any nation from that. Some countries are far away from other countries, while there are several neighbouring countries around some countries. Some nations have a long coastline, while some have plenty of mineral wealth. In sum, the size, population, topography, coastline, availability of natural resources, all these factors need to be considered while deciding the foreign policy of any country. (2) Political System : In a democratic political system, the nation’s parliament plays a major role in evolving foreign policy. When different aspects come up for discussion in parliament, the opposition parties try to regulate the foreign policy by raising questions about the same. Federal political systems have to take into account the inclinations of the constituent States while shaping foreign policy, because the affairs in neighbouring nations affect constituent States. For example, events in Sri Lanka may affect Tamil Nadu and those in Bangladesh may affect West Bengal and the North-east Indian States.

(3) Economy : In modern times the economic condition of any country has acquired great importance in deciding foreign policy. As a result, the economy impacts foreign policy in two ways : (1) Foreign policy is shaped by the need to establish economic relations with other countries, import-export, participation in world trade, all aimed at strengthening the economy of the country. (2) In today’s world, the issues of economic security are as important as national security. A country is recognised to be powerful in proportion to the economic security is enjoys.

 Countries having a strong economy are less dependent on others and they can have an independent foreign policy as well. (4) Political leadership : The President, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Defence Minister, the Finance Minister and the Home Minister have a role in deciding foreign policy. The persons holding these positions try to maintain the continuity in foreign policy and to improve upon it. For example, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru contributed the policy of non-alignment to India’s foreign policy. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee contributed a great deal to improving Sino-Indian relations.

(5) Administrative Factors : Ministry of External Affairs, Foreign Secretary, Embassies in different countries, Diplomatic officers, etc. are the administrative factors involved in creating foreign policy. Even though the final decisions about foreign policy are taken by the Prime Minister and the Minister for External Affairs, the administrative machinery helps to arrive at that decision. The administrative officers collect information needed to shape the foreign policy, analyse it and give appropriate advice based on it. The National Security Advisor also completes this task.

After taking this preliminary information about foreign policy, we shall now get to know more about India’s foreign policy. India got independence in 1947 and from then onwards we started shaping our foreign policy independently.

The Directive Principles of State Policy have laid down guidelines about how to shape foreign policy. Art. 51 among the Directive Principles of State Policy lay down the broad framework for foreign policy. According to it, India should give priority to safeguard international peace and security, and resolve our international problems and disputes by peaceful means. The objectives of our foreign policy should be to maintain friendly relations with other nations and respect international law. India’s foreign policy till now has been developed in this framework.