India as an Emerging Power

India as an Emerging Power. Edited by Sumit Ganguly. London Sc Portland, Oregon: Frank Cass, 2003. 233pp.

This book looks at India's potential to emerge as a major power, with contributions from eight scholars together with an introduction by the editor. It addresses the issue of India's strengths and weaknesses by delving into various aspects of India's foreign, economic and security policies, as well as its relations with neighbours and major external powers. India has for several years been regarded as an emerging or rising state. It had always been the predominant power in South Asia. The question now is whether it can transcend its influence beyond South Asia and can emerge as a major Asian power? That is the main thrust of the study by Sumit Ganguly and others.

The theme of India's power and influence in world affairs is not new. India's enormous size especially in terms of its population, rich natural resources and its strategic location together with a civilizational past has long convinced Indian leaders of an imperative for playing an international role. The main plank of Indian foreign policy, non-alignment, was fashioned and re-fashioned by its leaders essentially to preserve the country's independence and to maintain a balance in its relationship with the two superpowers. The strategy was aimed at drawing economic and technological aid for development from both powers as well as to provide an alternative model of international relations in a world which was then intensely bipolar. India's policy was aimed at creating a cushion between blocs and reducing the likelihood of overt conflict, and ultimately transforming a bipolar system to a polycentric or a multipolar system.

Non-alignment gave India an international profile (soft power) larger than was warranted by its economic and military strength (hard power). It made it possible for India to maintain normal relations with all the major world powers, with varying degrees of warmth and intimacy, while facilitating the flow of technical and financial assistance from the two ideological blocs. In short, non-alignment gave India the maximum possible dividends in a bipolar world. India's profile and influence, however, were not always balanced during this period; both external and internal factors combined (in the later years of the Nehru era and after), to deprive non-alignment...