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"This book begins with an examination of the impact of Partition on India’s foreign relations. Focusing primarily on events between 1947 and 2007, the author contends that one has also to look before 1947 and review the thoughts and actions of the main Indian architects of Partition—M.K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. The author argues that these leaders, opting for Partition, perpetuated and institutionalised the very issue they sought to resolve by this action—communal (Hindu–Muslim) antagonism. This, he writes, has mutated through the ensuing decades into Jihadi terrorism sponsored by Pakistan.
India’s foreign policy makers exercised little independence prior to 1991 because of the twin shackles of socialism and non-alignment. Post-1991, with the policies of economic liberalisation and globalisation and the consequent economic surge, India has been able to gain a high status in world affairs and evolve into a major power. Tracing the genesis of some persistent problems confronting India’s foreign policy makers, the book discusses them in the context of the interface of foreign/defence policies and domestic/foreign policies.
India’s relations with its neighbours—Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka—and erstwhile as well as current world powers—Russia, UK, USA—are analysed in detail as separate chapters, as is its entry into the nuclear club. The book finally maps the extent to which India’s foreign policy makers were grounded in reality and the effects of their decisions on its citizens."
ISBN - 9780415597425
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Pages : 813
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