India's Identity and its Global Aspirations

Abstract

This article engages with the question whether India’s identity predisposes it to playing a specific international role, in particular one which promotes the redistribution of power and wealth in the international system. This is done by exploring emerging and competing identity constructions and perspectives on the role that India should play in the world. It is argued that the liberal or pragmatic view, which advocates working within the prevailing global order and integration with the global economy in order to advance India’s economic performance, is currently dominant. At the same time, however, it is contended that India has numerous identities that are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and which lead to what has been called India’s foreign policy ambiguity. Four possible explanations for this ambiguity are proposed, namely: mimicry versus differentiation; reluctant radicalism; strategic moral posturing; and differentiation across issue areas. The article concludes that the Indian state is predominantly concerned about its own position in the global order, and less so about the plight of the developing world, but that global redistribution may well be a by-product of India’s foreign policy.