Describe the new dimension of Indian foreign policy.
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Answer:
President of the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, Prof. Yu Xintian, distinguished scholars, ladies and gentlemen,
I am thankful to Prof. Yu and the Institute for this opportunity to share some thoughts with you on the subject of India’s Foreign Policy. The SIIS is one of the leading think tanks in China. It commands respect among China’s leadership. It has won recognition among scholars of international relations. In India, we value the growing exchanges with you.
As I speak to you, I must also congratulate you as residents of this remarkable city. I am not new to China and feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to see many parts of this great country. Shanghai’s energy to excel and determination to rejuvenate itself throughout history has always been impressive. Its extraordinary transformation into a world-class metropolis is a reflection of its pioneering role in China’s global integration. In many ways, it manifests China’s own amazing accomplishments in achieving economic development and her emergence as a global political and economic power.
The end of the Cold War, the accelerating process of globalization and the emergence of transnational challenges have become the defining features of contemporary international relations. India’s foreign policy has had to adapt to this rapidly changing international environment.
Our foreign policy has also had to contend with remarkable changes within India itself. For more than a decade and a half, India has been engaged in a thoroughgoing reform and liberalization of its economy. Its engagement with the rest of the world has increased dramatically. It has become more than ever important to ensure for India a peaceful and supportive international environment, an environment which contributes to our developmental goals.
While meeting these challenges, India has maintained a remarkable continuity in the fundamental tenets of its policy. The core of this continuity is to ensure autonomy in our decision making. It is to ensure independence of thought and action. This was and remains the essence of our adherence to the principle of Non-Alignment. It is also the basis of our commitment to the Panchsheel, or the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, which India and China jointly advocated in the early 1950s, and still believe to be relevant in contemporary international relations.