India and the Balance of Power

AFTER DISAPPOINTING itself for decades, India is now on the verge of becoming a great power. The world started to take notice of India's rise when New Delhi signed a nuclear pact with President George W. Bush in July 2005, but that breakthrough is only one dimension of the dramatic transformation of Indian foreign policy that has taken place since the end of the Cold War. After more than a half century of false starts and unrealized potential, India is now emerging as the swing state in the global balance of power. In the coming years, it will have an opportunity to shape outcomes on the most critical issues of the twenty-first century: the construction of Asian stability, the political modernization of the greater Middle East, and the management of globalization. Although India's economic growth has been widely discussed, its new foreign policy has been less noted. Unlike their U. S. counterparts, Indian leaders do not announce new foreign policy doctrines. Nonethe less, in recent years, they have worked relentlessly to elevate India's regional and international standing and to increase its power. New Delhi has made concerted efforts to reshape its immediate neighbor hood, find a modus vivendi with China and Pakistan (its two regional rivals), and reclaim its standing in the near abroad: parts of Africa, the Persian Gulf, Central and Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean