DESCRIBE ' INDIA'S FOREIGN POLICY, ' ITS OBJECTIVES AND CHANGES IN IT FROM 1991 TILL DATE.
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Globalization, Development and Security in Asia FAChapter 4Continuity and Change in India’s Foreign PolicyRohan MukherjeeIntroductionOn the 24th of July 1991, Dr. Manmohan Singh — then India’s Finance Minister — presented in the annual budget speech to Parliament a plan for the comprehensive overhauling and liberalization of the Indian economy. During the preceding two years, India had rapidly approached the brink of an economic crisis, facing an unprecedented and severe shortage of foreign exchange reserves, a severely devalued currency, low investor confidence, a high fiscal deficit, and double-digit inflation. In announcing a sweeping reform program intended to significantly reduce government control over the economy, Dr. Singh at the end of his budget speech quoted Victor Hugo: “No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come,” he said. “I suggest to this august House that the emergence of India as a major eco-nomic power in the world happens to be one such idea” (Government of India, 1991).These words turned out to be prophetic. Over the next two decades, Indian citizens witnessed their lives and prospects improve remarkably, with the economy growing at a rapid clip. As trade and financial integration with global markets expanded, the effects were felt in almost all corners of society. Externally, India began to gain the attention of the great powers of the post-Cold War world, especially the United States and China. A more confident India began developing new strategic partnerships with a host of nations previously off Delhi’s radar. By the new millennium, India was