2.7.1 International relations and India's foreign policy notes

1. 2.7.1.1India's foreign policy: principles, evolution from non-alignment to strategic autonomy, and its makers

   India's foreign policy began with Nehru's non-alignment and Panchsheel, turned more realist after 1962 and 1971, opened up economically after 1991, and today is described as strategic autonomy or multi-alignment: working with every power on issues that suit India's interests without joining any bloc.

   Advanced · 10 min · Full course
2. 2.7.1.2India and its neighbours: Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar and Afghanistan

   India shares land borders with seven countries and sea borders with Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its "Neighbourhood First" policy mixes aid, connectivity and trade with hard security, while Pakistan (terrorism) and China (boundary) remain the two difficult relationships.

   Advanced · 11 min · Full course
3. 2.7.1.3India and the major powers: USA, Russia, EU, Japan, and the Indo-Pacific

   India keeps close partnerships with all the major powers at once: the US for technology, defence and the Indo-Pacific; Russia for defence supplies and energy; the EU and Japan for trade, investment and infrastructure; and it frames the Indo-Pacific as "free, open and inclusive", with ASEAN at the centre.

   Advanced · 10 min · Full course
4. 2.7.1.4United Nations: organs, specialised agencies, peacekeeping and reform; India at the UN

   The United Nations (Charter in force 24 October 1945; 193 members) works through six principal organs led by the General Assembly and the 15-member Security Council, a family of 15 specialised agencies and peacekeeping missions; India, a founding member and one of the largest peacekeeping contributors, leads the push to reform the Security Council.

   Advanced · 13 min · Full course
5. 2.7.1.5Regional and global groupings: SAARC, BIMSTEC, ASEAN, SCO, BRICS, G20, Quad, IBSA, IORA

   India works through overlapping groupings: SAARC and BIMSTEC in its neighbourhood, ASEAN-led forums for Act East, SCO and BRICS with Russia and China, the G20 for global economics, the Quad for the Indo-Pacific, and IBSA and IORA for South–South and Indian Ocean cooperation.

   Advanced · 12 min · Full course
6. 2.7.1.6Indian diaspora, soft power, Act East and Neighbourhood First; important bilateral agreements

   India's influence abroad rests on a diaspora of about 3.5 crore people, cultural and development "soft power", two regional policies (Neighbourhood First for South Asia, Act East for South-East and East Asia) and a web of bilateral treaties, from Panchsheel (1954) to the trade agreements of the 2020s.

   Advanced · 14 min · Full course

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