Contemporary Debates in Indian Foreign and Security Policy : India Negotiates Its Rise in the International System

The genesis of this book owes to the vibrant debate in India on the U.S.-India nuclear deal that started almost immediately after the pact was signed in 2005 and that still continues under various guises. It was refreshing to see the Indians debating a foreign policy issue with vigor usually reserved only for domestic issues in the past. Examining the debate closely, it was apparent that India had been involved in several such debates since the early 1990s, though they had been relatively muted. Issues of balance of power, changing strategic realities in the Middle East, emerging nuclear realities, energy, and terrorism are all issues that have been animating Indian elites for some time now, especially as India seems poised to play a larger role in the global political configuration.This book is an attempt to deal with a small subset of these issues and the debate surrounding them. Given the wide-ranging nature of Indian interests across the globe today, there is no attempt here to be all-inclusive. Rather, the attempt is to use some major themes in Indian foreign policy discourse in recent years to illuminate the Indian approach to global affairs as it stands on the threshold of making a leap toward the status of a major power.I would like to express my gratitude to Toby Wahl, who was instrumental in the transformation of a concept note into a full-fledged book. I would also like to thank Taylor and Francis, the Middle East Review of International Affairs, and Sage Publications for allowing me to use portions of my previously published articles in this book. Finally, I am grateful to my family for their support in everything I have done so far. This book is dedicated to the memory of my grandfather, who first taught me about the power of ideas, and to my grandmother who has always insisted on grounding ideas in the everyday realities of life. "Harsh Pant's lucid volume succeeds in vaulting over older debates regarding India's foreign policy. Pant engages in a fresh discussion on the new challenges that face an increasingly ambitious and influential India. Anyone concerned about the prospects and implications of India's emergence as a global power will learn a great deal from Pant's careful scholarship."--Daniel Markey, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations "Harsh Pant has not only produced a detailed analysis of key elements of the Indian debate over grand strategy, he offers a tour d'horizon of India's emerging role in a fast-changing world. India is no longer the sluggish state of the past - its dynamic economy makes it possible to imagine new strategic roles and a new relationship with the US, China, and other powers. Contemporary Debates is both timely and provocative, a welcome addition to the must-read literature on rising India." - Stephen P. Cohen, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington DC. "This volume constitutes a topical, comprehensive and informed discussion of a set of critical challenges facing India's foreign policy. Given the paucity of scholarship on this subject this work represents a most welcome addition to the literature. It should be of use to academics, journalists, and policymakers interested in the foreign and security policies of an emergent Asian power." - Sumit Ganguly, Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Professor of Political Science, Indiana University, Bloomington As a consequence of India's attempts to carve out a foreign policy that is in sync with India's rising stature in the international system, Indian foreign and security policy is currently dealing with a range of issues that are controversial but central to the future of Indian global strategy. These include India's relations with the US, the idea of a strategic triangle involving Russia, China and India, India's nuclear doctrine and its impact on the emerging civil-military relations, India's position of the ballistic missile defense system, India's relations with Iran and Israel, and India's quest for energy security. On almost all these issues, there is an intense debate in the Indian polity and the strategic community and how this debate resolves itself will in many ways determine the direction of Indian foreign policy for years to come. This book attempts to examine these issues so as to deduce some major trends in the Indian foreign policy of today As India's attempts to carve out a foreign policy that is in sync with their rising international stature, they are having to deal with a range of issues that are controversial but central to the future of an Indian global strategy. This book examines these issues and deduces major trends in Indian foreign policy. As a consequence of India's attempts to carve out a foreign policy that is in sync with India's rising stature in the international system, Indian foreign and security policy is currently dealing with a range of issues that are controversial but central to the future of Indian global strategy. This book attempts to examine these issues so as to deduce some major trends in the Indian foreign policy of today Front Matter....Pages i-vi Introduction....Pages 1-16 Front Matter....Pages 17-17 The U.S.-India Entente From Estrangement to Engagement....Pages 19-37 The Russia-China-India “Strategic Triangle” Primed for Failure?....Pages 39-62 Front Matter....Pages 63-63 Civil-Military Relations in a “Nuclear” India Whither Effectiveness?....Pages 65-90 India and Missile Defense Lull after a Storm....Pages 91-109 Front Matter....Pages 111-111 India and Iran Too Close for Comfort....Pages 113-129 India and Israel An Uneasy Embrace....Pages 131-147 Front Matter....Pages 149-149 India Grapples with Energy Security Playing Catch-up with China....Pages 151-171 Back Matter....Pages 173-202 As India's attempts to carve out a foreign policy that is in sync with the irrising international stature,they are having to deal with a range of issues that are controversial but central to the future of an Indian global strategy. This book examines these issues and deduces major trends in Indian foreign policy.