India’s Strategic Vision and Foreign Policy: Options and Challenges

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated (Second Raisina Dialogue, New Delhi, on 17th January 2017) that the civilisational legacy of 'Realism, Co-existence, Cooperation and Partnership' moulded India's strategic vision. The above statement reflects India's ambitious project to attain great power status, which has been a constant element in India's foreign and strategic policy since its independence. The quest for great power status is a shared belief and behaviour. Moreover, Prime Minister Modi has been continuing, at a fast pace, with the reforms initiated in 1991 by Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and pursued by his immediate predecessors. We can notice in Narendra Modi's approach of 'strategic interconnectedness' or 'multi-vectored engagement' or ‘panchamrit’, a continuity that aligns perfectly with the policies of his immediate predecessors. At the dawn of independence, the non-alignment approach facilitated liberal capitalist economic development with socialist flavours on an upward trajectory. Narasimha Rao rehabilitated India into the orbit of neoliberal political and financial architecture. Modi's objective is to take India into the league of leading countries in the multipolar world order through his Multi-vectored Alignment. There exists a symbiotic relationship between foreign policy strategy and domestic economic growth. Modi's Make in India project, Atmanirbhar Bharat and similar initiatives constructed on multi-vectored alignment or strategic interconnectedness have given India unprecedented visibility worldwide. This book is a collection of essays penned by a few established scholars in the field, and budding scholars under the guidance of established scholars. In addition, one retired diplomat and one retired Vice-Admiral contributed a piece each, rooted in their own experiences. The attempt is to comprehensively analyse India's strategic culture, doctrine, and foreign policy behaviour.

Professor Mohanan Bhaskaran Pillai was formerly the Chair, Department of Politics and International Studies, and Dean, School of Law at Pondicherry University. He served previously as Director of the UNESCO Madanjeeth Singh Institute of South Asia Regional Cooperation and Chairman Centre for South Asian Studies of Pondicherry University. He has also served as Principal of Pondicherry University's Community Colleges located at Lawspet, Puducherry, and Mahe, Puducherry. His areas of specialisation include South Asian Studies, Research Methodology, and International Political Economy. He has been a visiting Professor at the University of Sorbonne Paris Nord and has lectured at the University of Warsaw, Poland. Over the years, he has earned a reputation as an institution builder in recognition of his role in setting up Pondicherry University's Campus at Mahe, an outlying region of Pondicherry Union Territory, and serving as the founder and Head of the Mahe Centre. He is the founder and editor of the Institute for the Study of Developing Areas (ISDA) Journal - Studies in Development and Public Policy and has The International Journal of South Asian Studies-the flagship Journal of Pondicherry University. He has authored and edited more than ten books and published research papers in reputed national and international journals.