EVOLUTION OF INDIA'S FOREIGN POLICY BY DR. C. SIRAZ [HARDCOVER]

The story of the evolution of India‘s foreign policy begins with the pre-independence period when Indian National Congress decided in 1932 to have a foreign policy department under the chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru with Ram Manohar Lohia as its secretary. As a matter of fact, no
country in the world can afford to have an isolationist policy preference in its dealings with rest of the world given the complex nature and working of international relations. Such a situation holds more true in the case of countries like India that have always looked upon themselves as active participants in the global affairs with the objective of not only serving their national interest but also as conscience-keepers of collective wisdom and the pursuits towards the well-being of humankind.
Moreover, in the case of India, there have been a number of factors that seems to have persuaded the country to evolve a definite and comprehensive foreign policy. For instance, sheer size of the country, its rich diversity, historical and cultural relations, existence of a large number of countries in the near and not-so-distant neighbourhood as well as expectations of a majority, if not all, of the countries from Asia and Africa to provide a formidable voice to their concerns along with the globalision and outlook of its leaders – have all tended to make the country an important player in the
international politics