Bagchee

Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy

This work examines India-Pakistan relations from the perspective of major Indian political parties. It has been done by taking into cognizance the fact that foreign policy issues concerning nation states have increasingly acquired significance in their domestic spheres, due to the tine space compression effected by globalization. The main objective of the book is to provide a comprehensive explanation as to how political parties perceive major issues in India-Pakistan relations and examine how they contribute in the policy making process in the realm of India's external affairs. The work is predicated upon the theoretical framework relating to the interface between domestic politics and international relations of a polity. This study is marked departure from the prevailing trend of analysing India-Pakistan relations from merely the perspective of its international dimensions. By analyzing the contentious issues in their relations from the prism of the approach of political parties, it accents the utility of understanding foreign policy issues from the perspective of domestic determinants. In this way it attempts to provide a broad based examination of the major international problems confronted by India's policy-makers, while devising crucial policies to deal with India-Pakistan relations. It is also examined as to how their exists a consensus among political parties appertaining the nature of India's relations with Pakistan and the crucial effect of the issues in their bilateral relations upon its wider international affairs. Anyhow, this consensus has been distorted, plagued by divergent perceptions among political parties regarding the causes of India-Pakistan tensions and identification of policy options to effectively deal with the situation.