Is India too poor and does it have too many security problems to become a major player in international relations?

Résumé du document

In the wake of the emergence of China which is gaining more and more influence at the international level; India is willing to take the same pathway in the search for an international status. As a matter of fact India possesses many assets to reach this position. It is the biggest democracy in the world and it takes advantage from a strong economic growth of 8 in 2006 (institute online). Thus booming Indian economy is not an illusion and is expected to benefit from a 6 average growth of its GDP between 2006 and 2020 (Schaffer: 3). However, India is hampered in its walk towards an international recognition as a "Great Power" by particular issues, both domestic and peripheral, which form a vicious cycle between issues of extreme poverty and security problems; inhibiting so India's international ambitions.
Since then, it is important to understand first what are the sources of poverty in the country and to what extent it does inhibit India as a major player in international relations.

Secondly to highlight the nature on India's security problems and the extent to which it does have an influence on its recognition abroad as a major power. Ultimately, it seems interesting to draw attention to the lack of strategic thinking in Indian politics as well as gauging its influence as a regional power and its status in an increasingly multilateral world thanks to a more pragmatic foreign policy.

Extraits

[...] Nonetheless, as long as India won't be able to put its domestic obligations on the back burner to promote international aims; its credibility as a major player in international relations will remain fragile. The Indian sub-continent is a very volatile region within which India has to face to numerous security problems, both external and domestic. The main issue of Indian foreign policy is linked to its relationship with Pakistan and their conflict over the region of Kashmir, claimed by Pakistanis and Indians nationalists. [...]

[...] As a result it should get involved in restoring democracy in Pakistan as the political stability of its neighbour would benefit for its own interests. Besides India should have been more involved in supporting both Nepalese and Sri-Lankan authorities in their respective fights against the Nepali Maoist Peoples War and the Tamil Tigers. Indeed India has to assume its regional power status by making efforts to stabilize the region. “Power does not come cheap and power is not only to be created for existing reasons” (Kapila: 2008); which means that India has to use its natural power and influence to prevent any other showdown in the region and preserve its national interests. [...]

[...] S (27/02/2008) India's imperatives to assert Regional Power; Boloji, accessed on 08/03/2008; available at: http://www.boloji.com/plainspeak/108.htm Raman. S (11/04/2007) India's foreign Policy Pragmatism; BBC News, accessed on 27/02/2008, available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7069922.stm Schaffer. T (16/12/2005) India as a global power? [...]

[...] Secondly to highlight the nature on India's security problems and the extent to which it does have an influence on its recognition abroad as a major power. Ultimately, it seems interesting to draw attention to the lack of strategic thinking in Indian politics as well as gauging its influence as a regional power and its status in an increasingly multilateral world thanks to a more pragmatic foreign policy. Although it is recognised as a fast-growing and very dynamic economy, there are many domestic factors which literally inhibit India as a “Great Power” on the international scene. [...]

[...] It is those security problems, both peripheral and domestic, which undeniably constraint India's will to become a future major player in international relations. As a result it cannot be denied that India faces many problems which at the moment inhibit its emergence at the international level. Moreover the conduct of its foreign policy must be put into perspective to shed light on the underlying reasons for those circumstances. Hence the radicalisation of Indian foreign policy under the BJP government (1998-2004) led to the official “nuclearisation” of the conflict over Kashmir with Pakistan in 1998 and to the Kargil war in July 1999. [...]