The Engagement of India: Strategies and Responses

INDIA’S EMERGENCE as a significant global power is one of the most striking developments of the post–Cold War era. This book explores the strategies that other states have employed to try to shape the foreign and domestic policies of India as a “rising power.” It also examines Indian responses—positive, ambivalent, and sometimes hostile—to the engagement strategies used by other states, as well as India’s own attempt to engage states in its region. It argues that India’s “rise” cannot be understood just in terms of Indian actions but rather as a dynamic process of domestic change and foreign engagement. This book is the product of a workshop held at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra in November 2011. As the workshop convener and now as editor of this volume, I am grateful for the financial support of the Australia India Institute in Melbourne, as well as the continuing encouragement of its director, Professor Amitabh Mattoo, and his staff, especially Souresh Roy. I am also grateful to Happymon Jacob of Jawaharlal Nehru University and Rory Medcalf of the Lowy Institute for International Policy for their insightful contributions to the workshop. Thanks are due to the ANU for hosting the event, to Satomi Ono for coordinating the logistics, and to Mary-Louise Hickey, whose editorial acumen was invaluable in pulling the final book together. I would also like to express my thanks to Donald Jacobs and the staff of Georgetown University Press.