Economist has a good analysis of the gradual shift in India’s foreign policy which is keeping up with the time at least on some levels. As The Economist mentions in the footnote to the article, some idealists are less than happy with this gradual shift yet, it is worth keeping in mind that is quite consistent.

India is surrounded by countries which are autocracies. Pakistan and Bangladesh are under emergency rule. China and Myanmar are dictatorships. Nepal and Bhutan are monarchies and are just beginning to change track. Gone are the idealist days of Nehru where India found it almost impossible to maintain any sort of detachment from the idealistic position. Two events in the recent few months have provided a very clear example of the shift in New Delhi’s position and the way it deals in this hemisphere. First came the protests in Burma and the rather brutal crack-down by the ruling junta. If we were still living in the good ‘ol Nehruvian days, India would have stomped its foot and raised a lot of dust and tabled a UN resolution. But that didn’t happen now. India has a lot invested with the junta and there are real considerations about energy and the growing Chinese influence as well as the anti-India forces which periodically take refuge in Myanmar and the cordial relations with the junta have helped curb those. There were some symbolic statements made but thats where it stopped.

Then came the Pakistan situation with the General (read dictator) imposing emergency rule. Again, even if we go back just 10-12 years, we can clearly see how India would have reacted. It would have taken an idealist position and criticized the General and of course the Pakistanis would have rebuffed such interference in their internal affairs. Instead what we saw this time was a very cautious statement that was neither here nor there. This is India’s statement to the declaration of emergency in Pakistan. “We regret the difficult times that Pakistan is passing through,” this ambiguousness was a welcome change. One thing missing was a plan B at least publicly. It seemed from the reaction that India was hedging all its bets on the General and there seemed to be a lack of Plan B but there is no way to know whether that was indeed the case. It is a bit foolish to expect the India government lay out all its cards on the table. They might indeed have been talking with Benazir Bhutto or indeed, even Nawaz Sharif, but in all probability the General is here to stay at least for a few more years and it doesn’t make any sense to overtly reach out to Bhutto or anyone else and antagonise the General who still holds the reins.

Overall the policy shift shows a growing maturity in the sort of foreign policy that we might see in the coming years. And it is a welcome change.

Please also read the Economist article.