Afro asian solitary as a central element of india's foreign policy was initiated by
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Foreign policy, as it is now understood, is a function of the Westphalian system of modern state, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, originating from the Peace of Westphalia signed in 1648 in Europe, in which legitimate states were assumed to correspond to nations, that is, groups of people united by language and culture, and these nation-states became the primary institutional agents in an inter-state system of relations. International relations became a public concern as well as an important field of study and research only consequent upon the two devastating World Wars. The Wars revealed to everyone the importance of international relations, but foreign policy continued to remain under cover of secrecy.
Meanwhile, as the Westphalian system was gaining wider currency globally, India was losing the attributes of sovereignty and her capacity for an independent foreign policy. During the colonial period, imperial British interests prevailed over Indian interests when the Empire monopolised India’s external and defence relations. So, while the Government of British India had a semi-autonomous Foreign and Political Department from 1834 onwards, its primary functions were to deal with the princely states, and to handle commercial and mercantile interests in the immediate neighborhood of India and the Gulf. It was, however, later, a founder member of both the League of Nations and the United Nations.