India’s foreign policy approach has been transactional and its strategic culture driven by pragmatism, T.P. Sreenivasan, former Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, has said.
In a special address at the recent seminar on ‘India’s Strategic Culture and Policy Options’ hosted by the Department of Politics and International Studies (School of Social Sciences) Pondicherry University, Mr. Sreenivasan said the recent Pulwama attacks and the incidents which followed later served a reminder to India of its strategic options.
He presented case studies of India’s foreign policy and inclusion of strategic culture of India. “Non-alignment policy (now known as strategic autonomy) was the first strategic decision taken by India. The nuclear weapon test conducted by India during Indira’s regime, not signing of NPT etc. thereafter prompted India to accept the shift in strategic culture,” he said.
In his inaugural address, Vice-Admiral M.P. Muralidharan said, “A national strategy and security policy which evolve from national values and attitudes carry the objective of security of internal environment, air, land and ocean. Threats today are asymmetric in nature and we should look beyond the neighbourhood.”
He claimed that India’s strategic culture was present since a millennium. The first strategic statecraft of India is mentioned in Kautilya’s Arthashastra, Mahabharata and many ancient teachings. These texts deliberated on economics, right to guard the States from rival States, law and justice, he said.
Prof. Gurmeet Singh, Vice-Chancellor of Pondicherry University, Prof. Rajesh Rajagopalan from the Centre for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament, School of International Studies, (JNU), Prof. Venkata Ragothaman (Dean School of Social Sciences), Mohanan B. Pillai (head of the department of Politics and International Relations) and Prof. P. Moorthy (Department of Politics and International Relations) participated in the inaugural session.
Homage to martyrs
The dignitaries and the audience of lecturers, educators and delegates observed a minute’s silence for the martyred soldiers of Pulwama attacks.
The seminar was organised as part of UGC-Special Assistance Programme (SAP).
The topics ranged from tracing India’s strategic past, India’s cultural strategy region-wise, oceans and lands, neighbourhood policies and critical challenges.
