Abstract
This chapter analyses India's domestic politics and foreign policy, focusing particularly on how India has managed its ethnic diversity, the potent forms of ethnic unrest and insurgencies that the state has had to deal with, and the how India's growing economic and military power has impacted its foreign and security policy particularly with reference to Pakistan, China and the Western world. The chapter argues that in spite of the best intentions of the framers of the Indian Constitution, the Indian state has had to deal strongly with ethnic agitations and secessionist insurgencies in the Indian northeast, in Jammu and Kashmir and in Punjab. Some of these insurgencies are slowly winding down while some are being rekindled. The chapter also takes note of the Maoist insurgency in India and argues that under the Modi regime, harsh counterinsurgency measures and decapitation policies have resulted in defections and disarray within the Maoist ranks. This is a victory of sorts for the Indian state although the insurgency is not over by any means. Finally, the chapter argues that the end of the Cold War posed severe challenges for India's foreign and security policy. Under the changed realities of global politics, the Indian state adopted a pragmatic approach to foreign policy, which resulted in India's rise as an economic and military power. The Modi regime has further consolidated India's international standing although it has been confronted with major challenges. Most pressing of these has been the threat from Islamist forces in neighbouring states, managing hostile relations with Pakistan and China, and dealing with the consequences of the Ukraine war.