The Oxford Handbook of Indian Foreign Policy

Dr Raj Verma, Sonda News The Oxford Handbook of Indian Foreign Policy is an essential read for students at all levels and scholars who want to familiarise themselves with Indias strategic culture, the role of interest groups and other domestic factors on India's foreign policy, Indian Ocean, AfPak and emerging Asia. Scholars are encouraged to have this as a core textbook on Indias foreign policy and libraries must have copies of the book.

Prashant Jha, Hindustan Times Has enormous value in providing context to why India behaves the way it does in its vicinity, and in the wider world. It provides insights into the objectives, at various stages, of elements of foreign policy. It tells us about the decision making processes within the country. It tells us of the shifting priorities of the state as well as the changing nature of diplomacy, and the specialized knowledge it now requires. It tells us about the contribution of some of Indias top leaders to thinking about Indias global engagement...And, in a fundamental way, the Handbook tells us the story of India and its journey from being on the margins of the global power structure yet with ambitions of shaping it to arriving at a stage where it can exercise influence.

Talmiz Ahmad, Frontline This handbook of Indian foreign policy is a serious and substantial contribution to the debate on Indias foreign policy approach and engagements in an era that is witnessing significant changes.

Rakesh Sood, The Indian Express Indian foreign policy has been a relatively under-researched subject, due, in some measure, to the lack of authentic source material. However, there is a growing interest in the subject and the OUP Handbook does a creditable job of providing a comprehensive survey, spread over 50 chapters, of examining the origins and development of independent Indias engagement with the world ... the three editors have done a commendable job of providing a framework to what could easily have become an unwieldy collection.

CHOICE The book nicely interweaves how national, regional, and global factors; roles of formal and informal actors; and objective (real-structural) and subjective (identity-related) factors shape Indias foreign policy affairs. The book is cohesive, clear, and concise; conveys the essence of its topic; and concludes with a discussion of strategies to support Indias growth as a rising or constrained power in global affairs.

Raj Verma, Royal Society for Asian Affairs an excellent survey ... essential reading for those who want to understand Indias foreign policy

Srinath Raghavan is Senior Fellow at Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, and Senior Research Fellow at the Kings India Institute. Dr. Raghavan's research interests are in contemporary history of India, international politics of South Asia, Indian military history, and India's foreign and defence policies since 1947.

SECTION I: INTRODUCTION ; 1. India and the World ; 2. Five Approaches to the Study of Indian Foreign Policy ; 3. Theorising India's Foreign Relations ; SECTION II: EVOLUTION OF INDIAN FOREIGN POLICY ; 4. Foreign Policy of the Raj and its Legacy ; 5. Ideas about Foreign Policy Before Independence ; 6. Establishing the Ministry of External Affairs ; 7. Nehru's Foreign Policy: Idealism and Realism Conjoined? ; 8. Indira Gandhi's Foreign Policy: Hard Realism? ; 9. At the Cusp of Transformation: The Rajiv Gandhi Years, 1984-89 ; 10. Foreign Policy After 1990: Transformation Through Incremental Adaptation ; 11. India's National Security ; 12. Resources ; 13. India's International Development Program ; 14. India's Soft Power ; SECTION III: INSTITUTIONS AND ACTORS ; 15. State and Politics ; 16. The Parliament ; 17. Officialdom ; 18. The Private Sector ; 19. The Media in the Making of Foreign Policy ; 20. Think-Tanks, Universities ; 21. Mother India and Her Children Abroad: The Role of the Diaspora in India's Foreign Policy ; 22. Public Opinion ; 23. Indian Scientists in Defence and Foreign Policy ; 24. The Economic Imperatives Shaping India's Foreign Policy ; SECTION IV: GEOGRAPHY ; 25. India and the Region ; 26. China ; 27. India's Policy Towards Pakistan ; 28. Bangladesh ; 29. India's Nepal Policy ; 30. India-Sri Lanka Equation: Geography as Opportunity ; 31. India's Bifurcated Look in Central Eurasia: The Central Asian Republics ; 32. The Persian Gulf ; 33. India's 'Look East' Policy ; 34. The Indian Ocean as India's Ocean: Geopolitics and Geoeconomic Drivers for the 21st Century ; SECTION V: KEY PARTNERSHIPS ; 35. US-India Relations: The Struggle for an Enduring Partnership ; 36. Western Europe ; 37. The Russian Federation: The Anatomy and Evolution of a Relationship ; 38. Brazil: Fellow Traveller on the Long and Winding Road to Grandeza ; 39. Israel: A Maturing Relationship ; 40. India and South Africa ; 41. Unbreakable Bond: Africa in India's Foreign Policy ; SECTION VI: MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY ; 42. India and Global Governance ; 43. India and the United Nations- or Things Fall Apart ; 44. India and the International Financial Institutions ; 45. India's Contemporary Pluritalerism ; 46. India in the International Trading System ; 47. Multilateralism in India's Nuclear Policy: A Questionable Default Option ; 48. Multilateral Diplomacy on Climate Change ; SECTION VII: LOOKING AHEAD ; 49. India's Rise: The Search for Wealth and Power in the 21st Century ; 50. Rising or Constrained Power? Why India Will Find It Difficult To Convert Economic Growth and Nuclear Capability into Power