India's Foreign Policy

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India's foreign policy posture in recent years, particularly towards the region of West Asia and North Africa (WANA) has been a subject of intense debate. India's growing relationship with the US and Israel, and its lukewarm stand on Iraqi crisis and Iranian nuclear issue is seen as a fundamental shift in the Indian foreign policy exercise. Critics have accused the succeeding Indian governments during the past two decades of abandoning its independent foreign policy, of deviating from Nehruvian national consensus in Foreign policy matters, and towing the Pro-American line. Foreign Policy of India covers all major events and circumstances which shaped the country's thinking in the area of foreign relations.

Dr. Rajan Hayat, currently Associate Professor and Head of Political Science, Deptt of Political Science, JLN College. He joined the College in Nov. 2002. He has attended so many seminars and conferences and presented research. He has also completed several research project under UGC.

Foreign Policy of India describes the gamut of India's foreign policy as it evolved from ancient times to the present day complexities of international relationships. It goes back into early recorded history to the first Indian trade contacts with south and southeast Asian countries, continues through the advent of the East India Company and British rule in India and reaches into the post-independence Indian milieu of the commonwealth, the tilt toward the Soviet Union and the Non-Aligned Movement.

The foreign policy of Narendra Modi (also referred to as the Modi Doctrine) concerns the policy initiatives made towards other states by the current Modi government after he assumed office as Prime Minister of India on 26 May 2014. The Ministry of External Affairs, headed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj (the first woman to hold the office since Indira Gandhi), is responsible for carrying out the foreign policy of India. Modi's foreign policy is currently focused on improving relations with neighbouring countries in South Asia, engaging the extended neighbourhood in Southeast Asia and the major global powers. In pursuit of this, he has made official visits to Bhutan, Nepal and Japan within the first 100 days of his government, followed by the United States, Myanmar, Australia, and Fiji. Swaraj has also made official visits to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam, Manama, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, United States, United Kingdom, Mauritias, Maldives, United Arab Emirates, South Korea, China, Oman and Sri Lanka.

India's foreign policies, fortunately, have enjoyed bipartisan political support domestically, markedly from the 1990s onwards. The year 2004 witnessed a change of political complexion of the Government in India raising uncertainties in international quarters that under a Congress-led Government foreign policies may revert back to the Nehruvian mould. Initial pronouncements by the new Government and especially its new foreign minister created some confusion.