The Making Of Indian Diplomacy

Founded on unique research within India’s Ministry of External Affairs, this book overturns much of the accepted wisdom about Indian diplomacy being simply a derivative of European colonial models, in the process shedding new light on the nature of the Indian state. Datta-Ray argues on the basis of observed practices, and informal interactions and interviews with ministers and diplomats, that the core of Indian diplomatic practice is to be found in the national epic, the Mahabharata, whose influence he traces from pre-Mughal times to the present. Moreover, the durability of the Mahabharata’s influence on Indian diplomacy was secured by India’s most significant relationship of the modern political era, that between Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. The epic inspired Gandhi’s innovative conception of terminating violence non-violently, or satyagraha. His influence over Nehru ensured that satyagraha would shape the new post-colonial nation’s diplomacy, testimony to which, and arguably its greatest achievement, is India’s nuclear diplomacy. The author’s investigation of Indian diplomacy reveals its non-Western rationale, while its presence at the heart of a state presumed Western at inception reveals new possibilities about how to conceptualize post-colonial India, its purpose and role on the world stage. While nation-states authorized by nationalism remain hostage to the past, the Indian state’s arena for action is very much the present, as is rational its objective of non-violently terminating violence. Book Features: An original and in-depth study of Indian foreign policy as the product of a distinctive political culture Contains, among many things, discussions on Nehruvian and post-Nehruvian approaches to diplomacy Offers engaging accounts of interviews conducted with bureaucrats as part of the research Of relevance to both academic scholars and interested general readers Table of Contents: Transliteration Glossary Abbreviations Introduction 1. Delusive Utopia Modern diplomacy Reflexivity and civilization Civilized genealogy Conclusions 2. Irrepressible Present Managing the MEA The structure-of-structures The diplomatic present Status anxiety ‘How on earth did you get out?’ The jugar of negotiating the cosmos Mobility’s aim: progress Unspectacular suffering ‘Nothing makes sense in this country’ Conclusions 3. Theorizing the Uncontainable Today’s kit: the Mahabharata Managing the text Application: the Mahabharata’s dharma The practice of diplomacy in the Mahabharata Conclusions 4. Inverted ‘History’ The rationale for diplomacy in the Indo-Mughal Empire The coming of authentic, modern, European diplomacy Conclusions 5. Death of Diplomacy Diplomacy-as-battle Battle practices The victory of battle-diplomacy Conclusions 6. Diplomacy Reborn Gandhi’s engagement with dharma Gandhi’s art-of-politics Nehru: the principled Gandhian The diplomatic apparatus Satyagraha in practice: Pakistan and China Conclusions 7. Violence of Ignorance Analytical violence Enclosing the atom: satyagraha The status of status The friability of art Conclusions Conclusions: In the Shadow of Power Politics Intellectualizing the Ramarajya Notes Bibliography Index