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Most studies looking at India’s external policies continue to
“black-box” the actual process of how Indian foreign policy is
made. More specifically, most studies generally overlook how
India’s complex domestic polity and bureaucratic apparatus
shape India’s foreign policy outlook. Unlike works on India’s
security policy which have built from and contributed to
broader academic debates, studies on India’s foreign policy
have failed to directly engage with concepts and theories
developed by the sub-discipline of Foreign Policy Analysis
(FPA). Why have these concepts and approaches not been
consistently applied to the Indian context? There are various
reasons for this, ranging from these disciplines’ excessive reliance on Western case studies, or the lack of interest in mainstream International Relations scholarship by South Asianists
(in contrast to disciplines such as economics, political theory,
and developmental studies, all of which have benefited from
the Indian experience). This special issue is a step towards
bridging this gap and to encourage a greater dialogue
between FPA and the systematic study of Indian foreign policy.
Through the careful analysis of specific case studies, the different papers offer a conceptually grounded and empirically
innovative reading of India’s foreign policy across time, space,
and themes.
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