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New Century Publications Foreign Policy of India by Mohanan B Pillai
Professing and practicing non-alignment has been the hallmark of Indias foreign policy since independence in 1947. The initiative for Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) - the biggest independent and informal association of countries on a sui generis basis - came from the nations of India, Yugoslavia, and Egypt. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union ushered in a new era in Indian economy and polity and, consequently, in Indias foreign policy. India unveiled the Look East policy in 1991. Today, East Asia (including Japan, China, South Korea, and ASEAN) is Indias largest trading partner, ahead of the EU and the US. Indias foreign policy posture in recent years, particularly towards the region of West Asia and North Africa, has been a subject of intense debate. Indias growing relationship with the US and Israel, and its lukewarm stand on the crisis in Iraq and the Iranian nuclear issue, are seen as a fundamental shift in the Indian foreign policy exercise. Critics have accused the succeeding Indian governments during the past two decades of abandoning its independent foreign policy, of deviating from Nehruvian national consensus in foreign policy matters, and towing the pro-American line. Others have argued that the radical shift in the orientation of Indian foreign policy, in terms of its pro-American tilt, bears the mark of realism and pragmatism that is dictated by the demands of globalization. This book contains 28 scholarly papers that provide deep insights into the various dimensions of Indias foreign policy.