Table Of ContentROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK ON SOUTH
ASIAN FOREIGN POLICY
This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of South Asian foreign policy, examining
the complex history and present state of South Asian foreign policy, the foreign policy of the
countries of the region, as well as their relationships with their neighbours and key external
players, such as China and the United States, in an effort to understand South Asia’s place in
the world order. It illustrates the future trajectory of foreign policy in the region and analyses
the future of regional arrangements like SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation) and BIMSTEC.
The handbook is structured in five parts, each representing a focused area of enquiry:
• Foreign Policy
• Relations within South Asia
• Relations within Indo-Pacific
• Relations with China, Europe, and the United States
• Security
A carefully selected collection of 26 chapters written by experts on South Asian foreign,
economic, and security policy, this handbook provides an objective yet accessible overview
of the history and current state of foreign policy of each country and the region. It is an
authoritative reference work for academics and students as well as international think tanks,
research institutes, and non-governmental organisations working on South Asian Politics, Asian
Politics, Foreign Politics, International Affairs, World History, and International Relations.
Aparna Pande is Director of the Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia at the
Hudson Institute, USA. She is also the editor of the Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Pakistan
(2017) and the author of Explaining Pakistan’s Foreign Policy (Routledge 2011).
ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK
ON SOUTH ASIAN FOREIGN
POLICY
Edited by Aparna Pande
First published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Aparna Pande; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Aparna Pande to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-15068-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-05032-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-05480-8 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9780429054808
Typeset in Bembo
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
This book is dedicated to my paternal and maternal grandparents,
Dr Purushottam Pande and Smt Tara Pande, and Sri Pitambar Datt
Pande and Smt Bhagwati Pande.
CONTENTS
List of figures x
List of tables xi
List of contributors xii
Acknowledgements xix
Foreign Policy in South Asia: Promise and Peril 1
Aparna Pande, Raj Dhage, and Ojus Jain
PART I
Foreign Policy 17
1 India’s Foreign Policy Realignments 19
By Dhruva Jaishankar
2 Pakistan’s Foreign Policy: The More Things Change, the More
They Stay the Same 35
Waqas Waheed
3 Sleepwalking into a Great Power Rivalry: The Evolution of Sri Lanka’s
Foreign Policy in the Twenty-first Century 46
Ranga Jayasuriya
4 Nepal’s Foreign Policy since 1950 66
Prem Raj Khanal and Indivar Paudel
5 History of Foreign Invasions and the Afghan Response 81
Kanishka Nawabi
vii
Contents
PART II
Relations within South Asia 95
6 India’s South Asia Policy: Shifts and Continuities 97
Harsh V. Pant and Kriti M. Shah
7 The Changing Landscape of India–Pakistan–Afghanistan Relationship 111
Vinay Kaura
8 The Kashmir Matrix: Strategy/Policy Formulation in India and Pakistan 125
Priyanka Singh
9 India–Afghanistan Relations: Pragmatism towards
Political Normalisation 139
Prakhar Sharma
10 Nepal–Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Maldives Relations 152
Apekshya Shah
11 Transformation of India and Bangladesh Relations
and Challenges Ahead 170
Joyeeta Bhattacharjee
PART III
Relations within Indo-Pacifc 181
12 BIMSTEC: India’s Emerging Foreign Policy Fulcrum 183
Pinak R. Chakravarty
13 India’s Iran Policy: Civilisational Past, Complicated Present 202
Sumitha Narayanan Kutty
14 From Distant Relatives to Close Partners: India’s Relations
with Australia and New Zealand 216
Miguel A. Híjar-Chiapa
15 Influence and Hedging: China’s Engagement in South Asia 231
Manoj Kewalramani and Shibani Mehta
16 Rapid Development of India–Japan Cooperation: Its Chance
and Challenges 248
Satoru Nagao
viii
Contents
PART IV
Relations with China, Europe, and the United States 267
17 The Transformation of the Indo-China Rivalry in the Twenty-First
Century: The Rise of the Maritime Domain 269
Christopher K. Colley
18 India’s Strategic Policy towards China 283
Manjeet S. Pardesi
19 China–Pakistan Relations: Understanding Strategic Dimensions 298
Shalini Chawla
20 Caught between the United States and China: Critical Junctures in
Pakistan’s Foreign Policy 313
Filippo Boni
21 Bangladesh–China Relations in an Era of Globalisation:
Dynamics and Challenges 326
Delwar Hossain
22 Sri Lanka’s Foreign Policy: Past, Present, and Future: Infrastructure
Diplomacy and Contemporary Chinese Affairs 344
Asanga Abeyagoonasekera
23 Nepal’s Relationship with the European Union 358
Girdhari Dahal
24 Nepal–U.S. Relations: The Indo-Pacific and Evolving Strategic
Partnership in the Twenty-First-Century World 370
Rohit Karki
PART V
Security 385
25 Terrorism and Indian Foreign Policy 387
Manoj Joshi
26 Almost Parity: Understanding the India–Pakistan
Conventional Military Balance 407
Arzan Tarapore
Index 421
ix
