India and the World (POLS90053)

As India’s influence increases in the international system, understanding its foreign policy and its engagement with the rest of the world is critical for students of international relations. This subject is designed as a comprehensive review of some of the key issues related to India’s worldview and its behaviour towards the external world. The subject will familiarise students with the origins and conduct of India’s foreign policy. Apart from taking stock of contemporary thinking and policies of the country, the major thrust of the course would be on the following areas: a.) Mapping the historical trajectory and pre-colonial roots of India’s Foreign Policy; b) Institutions and decision-making process; c.) Intellectual debates on the nation’s external relations in both the pre and post- independence era (esp. Moralism-Realism-Pragmatism); d.) Culture of Strategic Thinking in India’s relations with the outside world; e.) India’s approach towards Multilateralism (esp. Non-Proliferation, United Nations, Humanitarian Intervention, Trade and Environmental regimes)