Approaches of Indian Parties to India’s Foreign Policy

Abstract

India is a sphere of vital national interest for Russia. Relations with it are a priority for the Russian Federation due to historical experience, geopolitical considerations, military-political ties, and, more recently, economic relations (Russia has once again become a key trading partner for the Asian giant, as it was during the bipolar period). Naturally, the positions of the key parties in India on foreign policy issues play a very important role, which is the main subject of the article. The article analyzes the essence of the discussions on macro-issues of foreign policy in the South Asian country since independence and the gradual emergence of a “supra-party” agreement on international affairs. Various social and political groups in the country hold very similar positions on the balance between political, diplomatic and military-forced methods in foreign policy. It can be assumed that this pan-Indian consensus indicates a sufficient awareness of national interests and foreign policy goals by political parties; and the absence of multiple official concepts on national security, foreign policy and defense does not prevent a sufficiently unified awareness of external threats and methods for countering them. The prospects of confrontation / interconnectedness in the foreign policy approaches of Indian parties as well as the ratio of declared objectives and real policy if elected to power is considered. A special subject of the study was the analysis of the parties’ positions regarding the foreign policy course at the last general elections in 2024.