India’s foreign policy-a realist-pragmatist mixture, it is necessary to understand the current nature of India’s foreign policy
The present trajectory of India’s foreign policy is going on in an excellent direction.
Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dr Subranmanian Jaishankar, the country is progressing at a rapid pace.
However, it is necessary to decode the present nature of India’s foreign policy direction, which itself is an academic exercise.
Realist Policy
In the discipline of International Relations, Realism is a school of thought which states that nation-states are the primary actors in international politics.
It asserts that foreign policy of states is guided by national interests, and every country is narcissistic when it comes to one’s national interests.
Realist nature of foreign policy underlines the fact that foreign policy is a psychological exercise anchored in Human nature, it regards that nation-states are, in reality, selfish actors.
Realist school says that the global order is in a state of anarchy to the absence of a global Leviathan or law-giver and hence nation-states seek to only bolster their power to ensure their self-preservation.
India’s foreign policy, unlike the Vaccine Maitri initiative is largely a realist foreign policy that caters to India-first agenda.
Pragmatist Tinge
While advocating the cause of realism, Indian foreign policy is also pragmatist by nature.
This means that it isn’t really hardcore realist by nature, but adopts realism in only certain aspects of foreign affairs.
Overall, India’s foreign policy is driven only by the reality on the ground and India’s judges each and every issue on its merits.
Keeping that idea in mind, India pitches itself as a pragmatist i.e. a country with lofty ideals but one who isn’t really carried away by its idealist mindset.
It knows the realities of the situation and judges an issue accordingly.
You can say that it is a kind of a Kautilyan policy.
For example-India’s determination to contest China’s dominance in the Indo-Pacific is driven by considerations of maintaining a competitive edge over China in one of the busiest and most lucrative maritime trade routes in the world.
Conclusion
Hence India ‘s foreign policy-a realist-pragmatist mixture which is necessary if India wants to attain the status of a superpower and vishwaguru in the comity of nations.