India at the global high table the quest for regional primacy and strategic autonomy

380 Pages·2016·6.126 MB·English

by  Schaffer, Howard B.;Schaffer, Teresita C

IndIa

at the
Global
hIGh table
the Quest for
reGIonal PrImacy
and strateGIc autonomy
TeresiTa C. sChaffer
and
howard B. sChaffer
Brookings Institution Press
Washington, D.C.

GEOPOLITICS IN THE 21ST CENTURY
For a quarter c entury since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world has
enjoyed an era of deepening global interdependence, characterized
by the absence of the threat of g reat power war, spreading democ-
racy, and declining levels of conflict and poverty. Now, much of that
is at risk as the regional order in the Middle East unravels, the secu-
rity architecture in Eu rope is again u nder threat, and g reat power
tensions loom in Asia.
The Geopolitics in the 21st Century series, published under the
auspices of the Order from Chaos proj ect at Brookings, will analyze
the major dynamics at play and offer ideas and strategies to guide criti-
cal countries and key leaders on how they should act to preserve and
renovate the established international order to secure peace and pros-
perity for another generation.

IndIa

at the
Global
hIGh table
the Quest for
reGIonal PrImacy
and strateGIc autonomy
TeresiTa C. sChaffer
and
howard B. sChaffer
Brookings Institution Press
Washington, D.C.
Copyright © 2016
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication data
Names: Schaffer, Teresita C., author. | Schaffer, Howard B., author.
Title: India at the global high t able : the quest for regional primacy
and strategic autonomy / Teresita C. Schaffer and Howard B.
Schaffer.
Description: Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, 2016.
| Description based on print version rec ord and CIP data
provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016000604 (print) | LCCN 2015040688
(ebook) | ISBN 9780815728221 (epub) | ISBN 9780815728238
(pdf) | ISBN 9780815728214 (hardback) | ISBN 9780815728214
(pbk.) | ISBN 9780815728221(epub)
Subjects: LCSH: India— Foreign relations—21st c entury. | BISAC:
POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / Diplomacy. |
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / International / Economics.
Classification: LCC DS449 (print) | LCC DS449 .S35 2016 (ebook) |
DDC 327.54—d c23
LC rec ord available at http:// lccn . loc . gov / 2016000604
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Typeset in Sabon and Scala Sans
Composition by Westchester Publishing Ser vices
Contents
Preface ix
1 India’s Pre- In de pen dence Legacy 1
2 Foreign Policy: The Cold War Years 14
3 Foreign Policy: The Post– Cold War World 43
4 Indian Strategic Visions 60
5 Foreign Policy Institutions 82
6 Negotiating for India 107
7 Negotiating Security Issues 127
8 Negotiating Nuclear Cooperation 150
9 Negotiating Economics 182
10 Multilateral Negotiations 213
11 Negotiating with Pakistan and China 248
12 Negotiating with Smaller South Asian Neighbors 271
13 India in a Changing World 293
Notes 311
Index 353

Preface
AS WE COMPLETE this work, India’s foreign policy has under gone changes
that neither of us could have i magined when we first became profession-
ally involved with India as U.S. Foreign Ser vice officers assigned to
the American Embassy in New Delhi. U.S.- India relations— our bread
and butter during both of our long diplomatic careers— went from being
thin and often disagreeable to acquiring major importance and warmth
for both sides. In the twenty- first c entury, India has leaped from the slug-
gish economics of the “Hindu rate of growth,” derided by cynics, to be-
come a world growth leader. This has helped to make India a well-
qualified contestant for a place at the global high table we allude to in
this book’s title.
The story of this transformation was what first inspired us to write
about Indian leaders’ vision of the country’s global role. When we sat
down to sort out our thoughts and commit them to paper, however, we
were as struck by the continuity in India’s approach as by the change.
Accordingly, the story we have told is built around a series of themes that
have driven Indian foreign policy, inspired its global vision, and shaped
its negotiating style at least since India gained in de pen dence in 1947.
The two most prominent themes are India’s determination to retain pri-
macy in its immediate region and its conviction that India must chart its
own global course— nonalignment or, in current parlance, strategic au-
tonomy. More recently, Indian foreign policymakers have added a third
theme: India’s economic power and the need to tap its potential to the
fullest as it pursues its foreign policy goals. A fourth driving force, more
ix