01589nam a22001457a 4500020001800000082001800018100001800036245007900054260002800133300001500161504001900176520119500195650002301390650003001413 a9789353579074 a327.54bPAN-F aPande, Aparna aFrom Chanakya to Modi:bEvolution of India's Foreign Policy/cAparna Pande aHaryana:bHarperc2020. axii, 224p. aIncludes index aForeign policy does not exist in a cultural vacuum. It is shaped by national experience and a country's view of itself. In the case of India, the foreign policy paradigm is as deeply informed by its civilizational heritage as it is by modern ideas about national interest. The two concepts that come and go most frequently in Indian engagement with the world -- from Chanakya in the third century BC to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2020 -- are autonomy and independence in decision-making. There are also four trends that we can trace: messianic idealism, realism, isolationism and imperial influences -- ideas that have competed with and complemented each other at various points in time.As India pursues modernity and seeks to exercise influence in the contemporary world, an examination of the nation in the context of its history and tradition is crucial. Aparna Pande's From Chanakya to Modi explores the deeper civilizational roots of Indian foreign policy in a manner reminiscent of Walter Russel Mead's groundbreaking Special Providence (2001). It identifies the neural roots of India's engagement with the world outside. An essential addition to every thinking person's library. aDiplomacy -- India aNarendra Modi - Influence