Forging New Partnerships, Breaching New Frontiers: India’s Diplomacy during the UPA Rule 2004-14

The decade 2004-14- when the two United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments, led by prime minister Manmohan Singh, were in office- was a remarkable milestone in the history of India’s diplomacy. The period saw a significant transformation in the way India deals with the external world. Under the quiet and active leadership of prime minister Manmohan Singh, India established important strategic partnerships, managed key security challenges, carved out a position of influence in core domains of global governance, and fostered the economic development and socio-political stability of its neighbourhood. The ten years of UPA rule has been a crucial passage in the evolution of India’s foreign policy, and yet this period has been-until now-curiously understudied. This book bridges this puzzling gap in the literature. In this book, seventeen eminent scholars of international relations, drawn from leading universities around the world, examine and debate India’s diplomacy during this period. This is the first comprehensive assessment of the transformations brought by the UPA governments in India’s foreign policy. It offers a wide-ranging analysis of India’s bilateral relations and engagements with important geographic regions, as well as insight into India’s diplomacy on major issue areas such as international trade, nuclear policy, maritime security, energy, and UN Security Council reform.