Abstract
What ails India in achieving its predestined identity and stature? Is India a natural global power waiting for the world to accept its position? Does India possess the capability to match its aspiration of navigating the troubled waters of international politics on its own terms and conditions? These are some of the preliminary questions Aparna Pande tries to answer in her new book Making India Great: The Promise of a Reluctant Global Power. The author delves into some of the important aspects of India’s journey towards becoming a global power, while tackling some of the hard-hitting questions standing in its way.
Aparna Pande’s book starts with an intriguing question how India in the recent times, despite possessing potentially untapped resources such as youthful population, a more matured economy and a strong military, in terms of both capacity and capabilities, is still grappling with issues of identity, religion, caste and ethnicity. The author argues that India, because of its 5,000 years of continuous civilisation, tends to see itself as a natural world power. This uniqueness which the author typifies as ‘Indian exceptionalism’ (p. ix) breeds a sense of natural pride despite the persistence of poverty, unemployment, uninitiated agricultural reforms and a military modernisation plan focusing on importing rather than investing in indigenous technology. The author further argues that India’s sense of uniqueness does not guarantee its rise as a global power. Solely relying on India’s great past and its huge population will not make India great. Instead, the author rightly points out, what India needs is ‘strategic intent’, more focused attention towards economic development and investment in hard power.
The book comprises of five chapters, an introduction and a conclusion. It comprehensively covers the outlook of India’s age-old ambitions and persistent weaknesses. The first chapter argues that India’s ambition and its journey to global power position seem to be in an apparent paradox. This paradox or contradiction, according to the author, arises from India’s longstanding pride in its culture and practices and its post-independence state’s outlook based on principles of modernity (p. 1). This paradox, which Pande examines as two contending imaginings of India, one modern and secular and other conservative and religious (p.13), remains very much a part of India’s journey towards becoming a great power; it is the simultaneous persistence of these paradoxical imaginings that weakens India’s rise (p. 33).
Apart from civilisational pride and its continuous reflection in post-colonial India’s existence, the author also examines the issue of poor governance despite the fact that India on important occasions has demonstrated its capabilities in managing its huge population. According to the author, the problem arises from the issue of poor governance and not in the assumption of incapacity of organisations and lack of self-discipline (p. 35). For a country like India, which has the second largest population and fastest-growing working-age population, a major investment in the human capital requires immediate attention. Pande argues that India has failed on this front primarily owing to the lack of vision of its ruling elites who have been preoccupied with political blame game. The duality of conflict arising from identity issues and poor governance produces a grave and unique test for India’s rise as a global power (p. 49).
In the recent past, India has witnessed continuous government interference in the GDP growth estimates (Venkataramakrishnan, 2020) as well as the reports of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) on the state of unemployment (The Wire, 2019). Pande argues that India’s constant issue with the economy can be answered through the lens of civilisational attitudes regarding wealth generation. The author has examined how culturally in India the pursuit of commerce has always been viewed as an impure persuasion. In modern times, Pande argues, India’s political aspiration has been against the wealth generation. The author’s argument rests on the premise that India has become a democracy even before achieving necessary industrial growth, hence leading to the redistribution of wealth even before the appropriate amount of wealth generation (p. 51). Even after allowing free-market economy since 1991, there has been an overt presence of central planning and overregulated economy (p. 52). Ever since Indira Gandhi, Pande argues, India has successively combined electoral aspiration with economic populism which has proved disastrous for the pro-market economy (pp. 63–64). The author has prescribed a number of policy remarks about unnecessary regulation which needs to be abolished in order to further stimulate the growth trajectory (p. 71). Apart from the abolition of regulatory framework, the author has also argued that India desperately needs government policy and bureaucratic action which favours investment.
Given the size of India and its civilisational and cultural outreach, its South Asian neighbourhood has always been a part of its global ambition. The last two chapters bring out how India’s belief in its exceptional identity also inspires its foreign relations, its military posture and the grand strategy it tends to adopt. Every state which sees itself as a major power and contends for global power status prefers to have an immediate neighbourhood in its sphere of influence. Given the fact that post-colonial India has done much better than most of its peers in terms of democracy, economy, self-sufficiency, as well as in the military domain, which is number two in terms of strength but follows norms of defensive outlook, the author argues, has generated a sort of pride which India seeks to display as an example to other states. This pride is not only symbolic in nature but a very much part of India’s foreign policy outlook. The author has asserted that since India seeks its past as a guiding framework for its present, and the future is a reflection of it, a sense of history and tradition has become a dominating theme in India’s foreign policy (p. 77). While examining the post-colonial history of India in terms of its foreign policy, Pande has argued that India’s foreign policy reflects a blend of moralistic and realist framework rooted in the greatness of Indian civilisation. This assertion of moralism and realism has helped India to claim its greatness as a civilised nation seeking peace and tranquillity and at the same time helping it to maintain its strategic autonomy, which it did very well during the Cold War (p. 80).
After the 2014 general elections, India has focused attention on its immediate neighbourhood. It was touted that an era of new neighbourhood policy doctrine has arrived. With the ‘Neighbourhood First’ perspective India’s foreign policy began to make calculated recalibration of India’s neighbourhood policy outlook. However, down the line after six years in power, the relations with neighbours are far from hassle-free. Pande believes that India follows the concept of ‘Rajamandala’ as propounded by Kautilya, when dealing with its neighbours. India wants a peaceful neighbourhood with less or no intervention by an alien power. For this, a number of different doctrines have been included as a part of its neighbourhood policy. However, the sense of being a 5,000-year-old civilisation has permeated India’s belief that the subcontinent comprises one civilisation, with one past. The author has termed this symbolic belief as ‘civilisational sphere of influence’ (p. 89). However, the author has argued that this civilisational sphere of influence has not been taken lightly by some of India’s neighbouring states, especially by Pakistan, who has been the strongest opponent of this perception. Pande has also examined how India has diversified its arsenal in terms of influencing its neighbouring states through the medium of economic diplomacy. The author has pointed out how India has used a variety of economic means in order to keep its neighbours less interested in other big powers’ economic aid and assistance. For India, Pande argues, economic assistance helps in achieving its geopolitical interests as well as keeping its neighbours sensitive to India’s security interests (p. 91). Despite India’s efforts, the neighbourhood countries have preferred to not overly rely on India and have sought assistance and aid from other big powers, especially China. India cannot ignore this reality. China’s footprints in South Asia may easily be ascertained by taking stock of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)’s inroads in the region—except for Bhutan every other South Asian state is a part of this grand Chinese project. Pande has argued that India has no choice but to accept that China is going to give it a hard time in maintaining both its economic and security interests intact. Just by relying on its civilisational heritage, India is not going to achieve much, and it needs to combine its idealism with realism in a more practical manner (p. 115).
In the final chapter, Pande argues why India needs a grand strategy if at all it wants to be counted as a major power. The author’s assertion is that since India’s self identify revolves around its civilisational pride, India intentionally and unintentionally follows the principles of a status quo power, a policy of non-alignment, with a penchant for strategic self-discipline. The author sees no problem with India following the aforementioned principles, but the problem arises when these principles become historical baggage leading to paralytic indecision (p. 117).
Taking cue from her earlier book, Pande has prescribed four main strands in India’s foreign policy which should be considered while devising India’s grand strategy. These four strands include Imperialist Legacy, Messianic Idealism, Realism and Isolationism. Each of these strands has specific policy orientation: Imperialist Legacy seeks to keep decision-making which deals with immediate neighbourhood and security issues firmly in the hands of the Central government (p. 118). Messianic Idealism, the author argues, reflects India’s stance towards global peace, justice and prosperity. Idealism has always been part of India’s foreign policy outlook which seeks to propagate India’s civilisational superiority and making its own general populace believe in its glittered heritage (p. 119). Realism, on the other hand, has demonstrated India’s serious attitude towards attaining hard power. Pande has argued that India’s stance towards hard power has always been attached to its ability to attain military power. Lastly, the concept of Isolationism which the author argues is a part of India’s global outlook is unique. India has always been reluctant in following any ideology or being involved in any global issues. Based on historical reference, Pande has argued that except the ancient Chola dynasty and British Raj, India has never extended its boundary beyond the subcontinent. Further, India has also been averse to any type of military alliances which is a consistent political outlook ever since Nehru.
The author has also examined one of the most debatable features of India’s grand strategy, that is, the notion of strategic culture. Pande has examined different threads of the notion of strategic culture propagated by diverse schools of thought. There are those who argue that India simply never had any chance of propagating a coherent strategic culture because of pre-British security arrangements between various princely states (p. 138). However, the author also draws attention to another set of scholars who have argued in favour of an ancient Indian strategic culture still existing as guiding force behind India’s many policies, behaviour and views (p. 139).
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Aparna Pande has covered reasonably a lot in a rather small volume. Of course, no book can be perfect, and this one also has its share of shortcomings such as not deliberating enough on the current state of affairs between India and its neighbourhood. It also does not discuss the issue of the retreat of globalisation and its impact on India’s rise as a global power. Nonetheless, the book Making India Great: The Promise of a Reluctant Global Power is an important read and would beckon anyone interested in India’s rise as a global power.