Class Notes 4 You

Intro: J N Dixit: Foreign policy of a country is a statement of what it stands for and the role that it takes upon itself and projects to the world. Cabinet Main drafter on Indian foreign policy particularly the Cabinet committee on security Initially Nehru unilaterally formulated India’s foreign policy rather than actually involving the Cabinet Due to coalition politics use of cabinet members especially of coalition partners has become crucial Cabinet integrates issues such as trade and commerce, security into a coherent foreign policy strategy Parliament Can keep checking vote of no confidence Through Parliamentary committee on external affairs After Beru Bari union case Supreme Court said that India needs to pass Constitutional amendment if India gives away any territory—> 100th  AA related to exchange of conclaves Crucial treaties and international agreements need Parliamentary approval. For example Indo US nuclear deal The grants given by MEA to different nations via budget...

Intro: No strategic vision has captivated India’s foreign policy mandarins and strategic community in recent times as have the Indo Pacific and the Quad. 65% of world population and 62% of world GDP context: The term Indo Pacific was first noticed in a paper written by Gurpreet Khurana, an Indian naval officer. Japan PM Shinzo had talked about Confluence of the two seas in 2007 drawing inspiration from a book by Dara shikoh written in 1655. It mentioned how the  freedom of navigation in the pacific was inseparable from the peace, stability and freedom of navigation in Indian ocean 2017- US secy of state called for free and open Indo pacific. 2017- Government of Australia brought a white paper explaining its vision of Indo Pacific based on three pillars – openness, security, prosperity 2017- quad came into existence 2019- USA has brought free and open Indo Pacific strategy which mentions China as a revisionist, predatory power 2019- ASEAN came up woth ASEAN outlook on Indo pacific t...

Different phases of Indian diplomacy 1947-1962 : Phase of optimistic non-alignment where India resisted the constraining of its choices and dilution of its sovereignty in a bipolar world . It saw energetic Indian diplomacy from Korea and Vietnam to the Suez and Hungary. However, India’s focus on diplomatic visibility sometimes led to overlooking the harsher realities of hard security. E.g. Going to UN regarding J&K. Rejecting the offer “east west swap deal” of China where India would recognise Chinese claims on Aksai Chin and China would give up its claims on the eastern sector. The anticipated 1962 war, yet, the reluctance to attach overriding priority to securing borders. 1962-1971 : Phase of recovery and realism : India looked beyond non-alignment making pragmatic choices on security and political challenges E.g. concluding a defence agreement with the US in 1964. domestic challenges with political turbulence and economic distress. India faced a tense situation with Pakistan i...