High Commission of India, London
About India: Political Structure - Foreign, Defence & Economic Policy

Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and his Satyagraha, a unique non-violent campaign, India threw off the yoke of British rule on August 15, 1947. Free India's first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, described the moment as a "tryst with destiny". In less than three years of attaining freedom, India had framed a Constitution and declared itself a Republic on January 26, 1950. The Constitution was given shape by some of the finest minds of the country who ensured the trinity of justice, liberty and equality, for the citizens of India. The Constitution was made flexible enough to adjust to the demands of social and economic changes within a democratic framework. Adopting the path of democracy, the country held its first general elections in 1952. Elections to the Lower House of Parliament, Lok Sabha, have been held regularly every five years.

India is the largest democracy in the world. A view of the Parliament House, New Delhi.

India is a Union of twenty six States and six centrally administered Union Territories.

The States are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, M izoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The centrally administered territories are Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry.

The country attained freedom on 15 August 1947. The Constitution of the Republic came into effect on 26 January 1950.

The Constitution provides for single and uniform citizenship for the whole nation and confers the right to vote on every person who is a citizen of India and is 18 years of age or older.

The Fundamental Rights of every Indian citizen include the freedom of speech, expression, belief, assembly and association, migration, and choice of occupation or trade. These rights also protect every Indian from discrimination on grounds of race, religion, creed or sex, and are enforceable in courts of law.

The Legislature: India has a parliamentary form of government based on universal adult franchise. The executive authority is responsible to the elected representatives of the people in Parliament for all its decisions and actions. Sovereignty rests ultimately with the people.

Rajya Sabha (Council of States): The Council of States consists of not more than 250 members, of whom 12 are nominated by the President of India and the rest elected. It is not subject to dissolution, one-third of its members retiring at the end of every second year.

The elections to the Council are indirect. The allotted quota of the representatives of each State is elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly of that State, in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. The nominated members are persons with special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service. The Rajya Sabha is presided over by the Vice-President of India.

Lok Sabha (House of the People): The House of the People consists of 545 members. Of these, 530 are directly elected from the 26 States and 13 from the six Union Territories. Two members are nominated by the President to represent the Anglo-Indian community.

Unless dissolved sooner, the term of the House is five years from the date appointed for its first meeting. The Lok Sabha elects its own presiding officer, the Speaker.

The Executive: The President of India is the Head of the State and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He is elected by an electoral college composed of members of both the Houses of Parliament (Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha) and the legislatures of the constituent States. The President holds office for five years and can be re-elected.

The President does not normally exercise any constitutional powers on his own initiative. These are exercised by the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, which is responsible to the popularly elected Parliament.

The Vice-President is elected jointly by the members of both the Houses of Parliament. The person enjoying majority support in the Lok Sabha is appointed Prime Minister by the President. The President appoints other ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister can remain in office only as long as he or she enjoys majority support in Parliament.

The Judiciary: The judiciary is independent of the executive. It is the guardian and interpreter of the Constitution. The Supreme Court is the highest judicial tribunal, standing at the apex of a single unified system for the whole country. Each State has its own High Court. A uniform code of civil and criminal laws applies to the whole country.

The States: The States have their own Legislative Assemblies and in certain cases a second Chamber. All members of the Legislative Assemblies are elected by universal adult franchise. The Heads of the States are called Governors. Appointed by the President, they normally exercise the same powers in the States as the President does in the Union government. As in the Central Government, each State has a Cabinet headed by the Chief Minister responsible to the elected State Legislature.

Election Commission: The electoral machinery is centralised in an independent statutory body called the Election Commission. The Commission is responsible for the 'superintendence, direction and control' of the electoral rolls for all elections to Parliament and to the State Legislatures and also for conducting the elections.

All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD), which were totally under government control since their inception, are now governed by an independent body of eminent persons who constitute the Prasar Bharati Board. A large number of private channels also beam their programmes across the country freely through the satellite.

Newspapers and magazines in India are independent and largely privately owned. About 3,000 newspapers, 150 of them major publications, are published daily in nearly 100 languages. Over 30,000 periodicals are also published in India. The periodicals specialise in various subjects but the majority of them deal with subjects of general interest.

The foundations of India's foreign policy were laid during the freedom movement when our leaders, even when fighting for independence, were engaged with the great causes of the time. The principles of India's foreign policy, that emerged then, have stood the test of time: a belief in friendly relations with all countries of the world, the resolution of conflicts by peaceful means, the sovereign equality of all states, independence of thought and action as manifested in the principles of Non-alignment, and equity in the conduct of international relations.

Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, India was the founder member of the Non-aligned Movement. India has played an active role in strengthening the Movement and making it an effective voice in representing the collective aspirations and interests of the developing countries on such vital issues as development, peace and stability. India hosted the 7th NAM Summit in New Delhi in 1983. In recent years, after the end of the-Cold War, our foreign policy has been focussed on strengthening the Movement by redefining its priorities in keeping with the changing times.

India has also been in the forefront of the world community in the struggle against colonialism. Indeed, the Independence of India itself played the role of a catalyst in removing the vestiges of colonialism in other parts of the developing world, particularly in Africa. India was also the first country to raise the question of racial discrimination in South Africa in 1946. It was at India's initiative that the AFRICA (Action for Resistance to Invasion, Colonialism and Apartheid) Fund was set up at the 8th NAM Summit in Harare in 1986. India was the Chairman of the AFRICA Fund Committee which wound up in 1993.

A notable feature of Indian foreign policy has been its strong advocacy of general and complete disarmament. with nuclear disarmament being accorded the highest priority. Towards this end, India has taken several initiatives within the United Nations and outside. In 1988, India presented to the 3rd Session of the UN General Assembly devoted to Disarmament an Action Plan for Ushering in a Nuclear Weapons Free and Non Violent World Order. In order to highlight international concern about the unprecedented nuclear arms race, India was also a member of the Six-Nation Five-Continent Joint Initiative in the 1980s. But while India has, and will, remain committed to nuclear disarmament, to be achieved in a time-bound framework, it has consistently and in a principled manner opposed such discriminatory treaties as the Nuclear non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and has refused to give up its nuclear options until all countries in the world including nuclear weapon states embrace the idea of nuclear disarmament in a phased manner.

As a founder member of the United Nations, India has been firmly committed to the purposes and principles of the United Nations and has made significant contributions to its various activities, including peace-keeping operations. India has been a participant in all its peace-keeping operations including those in Korea, Egypt and Congo in earlier years and in Somalia, Angola and Rwanda in recent years. India has also played an active role in the deliberations of the United Nations on the creation of a more equitable international economic order. It has been an active member of the Group of 77, and later the core group of the G- 15 nations. Other issues, such as environmentally sustainable development and the promotion and protection of human rights, have also been an important focus of India's foreign policy in international forums.

Commensurate with national interests and security, the improvement of bilateral relations is an important component of any foreign policy, and India has succeeded in establishing a network of mutually beneficial relations with all countries of the world.

In particular, the improvement of relations with our neighbours has always been one of the pillars of India's foreign policy. India played an historic and unique role in the liberation of Bangladesh which emerged as a sovereign nation in 1971. Through the implementation of the 1964 and 1974 Agreements, the issues of the stateless people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka was resolved. In 1988, India helped preserve the integrity of Maldives by coming to the assistance of that country and preventing an attempted take over by armed mercenaries. The Indian government has taken recent initiatives to further strengthen ties with our neighbours, which have won international appreciation. These initiatives are based on five clear principles: First, with neighbours like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, India does not ask for reciprocity but gives all that it can in good faith and trust. Secondly, no South Asian country should allow its territory to be used against the interests of another country of the region. Thirdly, none will inteffere in the internal affairs of another. Fourthly, all South Asian countries must respect each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty. And finally, they should settle all their disputes through peaceful bilateral negotiations.

These tenets have paid rich dividends. A landmark Treaty has been signed with Bangladesh on the sharing of waters of the Ganga. With Bhutan and Nepal, major projects of economic collaboration have been advanced. Our relations with Sri Lanka have shown steady improvement. With Pakistan, India has consistently pursued a policy seeking to improve relations under the framework of the Simla Agreement signed in 1972 which provided for the resolution of outstanding issues peacefully and bilaterally and for establishing durable peace in the Sub-continent. Bilateral discussions with Pakistan have resumed recently and India would continue efforts to have good neighbourly relations with Pakistan.

An important achievement of India's foreign policy has been the strengthening of regional co-operation. India is an active member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) which was launched in December 1985. With India's full support, SAARC has recently taken significant steps in accelerating the pace of economic co-operation. The South Asian Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAPTA) became operational in December 1995. At the 9th SAARC Summit in Male in May 1997, which was chaired by India, a historical decision has also been taken to strive for a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) latest by the year 2001 AD. The emergence of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IORARC) in March 1997, as a major instrument of co-operation in the larger region, has also had the active support of India.

India's foreign policy has always regarded the concept of neighbourhood as one of widening concentric circles, around a central axis of historical and cultural commonalties. From this point of view, it has always given due priority to the development of relations with South East Asia. In 1947, India organised the Asian Relations Conference. It chaired the International Control Commission in 1954 and was a major player in the organisation of the Bandung Conference in 1955. Today, India is implementing a 'Look East' policy which is underpinned by important economic considerations. Some significant steps in the pursuance of this policy have been taken with the admission of India as a full dialogue partner of ASEAN and a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum, in 1996.

An attribute of a dynamic foreign policy is the ability to respond to changing developments. The emergence of the Central Asian Republics in the aftermath of the break up of the Soviet Union was one such recent development, and India, given the strategic and economic importance of this region, has been quick to strengthen its bilateral relations with each of these Republics. The shift in recent years by the countries of Central and East Europe to political pluralism and market-oriented structures has also seen India trying to build upon existing business and institutional linkages so as to further strengthen the traditional ties of friendship with the countries of this region.

The countries of the Gulf have a political and strategic importance for India. The region is a major market for Indian exports. Three million Indians are employed in these countries. The strengthening of ties with this region, therefore, has been a priority of India's foreign policy.

With China the aim of Indian foreign policy has been of developing a relationship of friendship, cooperation and good neighbourliness, exploiting the potential for favourable growth wherever it exists, even as we seek to find a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the outstanding border issue. Towards this aim, a series of high level visits have been exchanged, bilateral trade and economic cooperation is growing, and an Agreement on Confidence Building Measures, as part of a wider dialogue on security, has been signed.

India values its bilateral relations with the US. As democracies, both countries have many shared ideals. Relations have also continued to grow with the 15 countries of the European Union, and with Japan. These countries are important economic partners of India, specially in the wake of our economic reforms. However, in pursuing bilateral relations, we have sought to preserve the independence of our viewpoint and protect our national interests from the pressures of conformity.

Our relations with Russia have grown over the years to constitute an important foreign policy priority for both countries. There is a recognition in both counties to the strategic dimension of our multi faceted ties. The considerable goodwill for India in Russia has been further cemented in recent years.

Economic diplomacy has been a key component of India's foreign policy. Apart from long established Divisions in the Ministry to deal with economic issues, an Investment Publicity Unit (IPU) was specifically set up in 1990 with a view to disseminating economic information and coordinating the economic and commercial activities of Indian Missions abroad in the light of the recent economic reforms underway in the country. One aspect of economic diplomacy has been the promotion of South-South Cooperation. The Indian Economic and Technical Cooperation (ITEC) Programme was established in 1964. Today it extends to 110 countries in Asia, East Europe, Africa and Latin America and facilitates the training of as many as 1000 foreign candidates in Indian institutions each year.

As many as 20 million people of Indian origin live and work abroad and constitute an important link with the mother country. An important role of India's foreign policy has been to ensure their welfare and well-being within the framework of the laws of the country where they live.

The strength of any foreign policy depends also on the professional abilities of those who implement it, both at Headquarters and in the field. With a view to ensuring this, the Foreign Service Institute was established to undertake specialist training for entrants into the Indian Foreign Service, and conduct several other specialist courses for Indian and foreign diplomats.

It is difficult to enumerate the achievements of a country's foreign policy in exactly quantifiable terms. With this as a qualification, it would be a fair assessment to make that Indian foreign policy has sought to preserve, with conviction and consistency, the principles that were enunciated by the founding fathers of the Republic, both in the development of bilateral relations, and in international forums, where our views have won recognition and respect. A significant factor underlying this achievement has been the consensus, cutting across political divides, within the country, on what the basic aims and objectives of Indian foreign policy should be.

India believes in a policy that promotes peace and international cooperation. However, the country has a land frontier of 15,200 kin, a coastline of 7,516.6 km and an exclusive economic zone of 2.2 million sq. kin, island territories, vital offshore installations and airspace. The armed forces, therefore, have to be kept prepared and well- equipped to repel any external threat.

The country's armed forces are well-trained, disciplined and free from politics. The accent in defence planning is on increasing indigenous capacity and a reliable mechanism of inter-services, inter departmental and multi-level coordination and monitoring has been devised to help defence planning. The current strategic and technological scenarios as well as future projections are taken into consideration in preparing the defence plan. Periodic review addresses any unexpected development or threat to security.

Even after the end of Cold War the global strategic environment continues to be uncertain and unstable. Some old conflicts may have ended, but the rise of religious fundamentalism and ethnic assertions have heightened tension in many parts of the world. In such a scenario, the Indian Army cannot afford to lower its guard it needs to constantly upgrade its critical weapons and induct state-of-the-art systems to ward off threats from potential adversaries.

At the same time, the Indian Army, largest of the three services, has to work within the resource constraints of the country, requiring it to lay great stress on an indigenisation programme.

Thus indigenous technology is being used to increase the fire power of the weaponry with the Army to give it better night vision capability, mobility and protection. The main battle tank, Arjuna, has been inducted into the Army as one of the most modern tanks in the world.

The Army is to be equipped with self-propelled guns and multi-barrel rocket launchers with enhanced range and lethal effect. The air defence artillery system is being upgraded. Self-propelled air defence systems are to be inducted as force multipliers. The surveillance capabilities are also being upgraded.

The Army has also been taking initiatives on matters relating to environment and conservation with afforestation drives, greening of waste land and development of alternative sources of energy.

A notable development in the armed forces has been the decision to induct women officers in various branches of all the three services . The Indian Air Force has already trained the first batch of women pilots. Encouraged by the success of the experiment to induct women officers, the Army proposes to increase the intake of women officers. India has a long tradition of contributing to the UN Peace Keeping missions. The Indian contingent's contributions in two recent missions, in Somalia and Mozambique, received special praise.

With the change in global political and strategic environment, India has stepped up its traditional defence cooperation relationship and forged new ties. This has included goodwill visits by Chiefs of Services, joint exercises, technological exchanges, training interaction and export of defence items. An agreement on defence cooperation upto the year 2000 was signed with Russia. The US Secretary paid a visit to India in 1995 and signed an agreed minute on defence relations with India. The US Secretary of State visited New Delhi in October 1997 and the two sides acknowledged the initiation of a strategic dialogue.

The Indian Navy has to guard not only a large coastline, but also offshore oil, seabed reserves and sea lanes which are used for 97% of the Indian trade.

Indigenisation being an important consideration even in expansion plans, some of the recent acquisitions by the Indian Navy like the destroyer "Bombay", frigate "Beas" submarine, "INS Shankul," were all made in India, one of the few countries to have the technology for submarine construction. The Indian Navy has also pioneered in Asia the idea of docking a submarine on pontoon which will help in carrying out all dry dock routines. To further maritime diplomacy and cooperation, joint exercises were conducted with a number of countries. Naval ships also exchanged visits with a number of countries. The Indian Navy also has the proud distinction of participating in all the 13 Indian expeditions to Antarctica.

Though the Indian Air Force is only 62 years old and, like the other services, suffers from resource constraints, it has made tremendous technological advancements in recent years which have helped in indigenisation of a vast range of equipments and sophisticated technology. This has also enabled the IAF to upgrade and integrate state-of-the-art weapons and avionics in the existing fleet. The MiG 21 BIS is currently being upgraded with the help of Russian agencies.

Progress has been made in developing Light Combat Aircraft, air defence radars, pilotless target aircraft and air to ground weapons. Overhaul facilities for the MiG 29 and Mirage-2000 are also being set up. The proposal to acquire advanced jet trainers has been approved.

The electronic warfare capability, crucial in modern day wars, and precision guided munitions capabilities of the IAF are also being upgraded and soon the entire IAF fleet will be equipped with global positioning system sets.

A network of 50 laboratories work under the Defence Research and Development Organisation. The Department of Defence Research and Development is being developed to match even surpass international standards in critical technologies. A national mission has been launched to achieve self-reliance in defence systems from the present 30% to 70% by 2005 A.D. Good progress has been made in the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. User trials of the Prithvi surface-to-surface missile have been completed. Flight trials were undertaken to evaluate the beam- gathering system of the Trishul surface to air missile. Further tests were carried out on the medium range surface-to-air missile Akash. The anti-tank missile Nag was tested in captive helicopter flights. The third launch of the Agni vehicle was completed and the project completed.

Over the past two decades, the Indian Ocean has become an arena of great power rivalry and confrontation. This has naturally led to greater tensions in the region. The littoral and hinterland States of the Indian Ocean have expressed their unified and determined opposition to outside military presence and called for its elimination in the United Nations Declaration on the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace. India hopes that the great powers and major maritime users will join the efforts of the littoral States of the Indian Ocean in achieving this objective.

With the global trend of so many countries throwing open their economies, India has begun to place special stress on economic diplomacy at all levels bilateral, regional and multilateral. The existing opportunities are being expanded while new ones are being created for trade, investment and technological cooperation with both the developed and the developing world.

But the success of India's economic reform programme may not be possible without a favourable global economic environment. The effort of the government has been, therefore, to forge a consensus at international fora in favour of policies that support the economic development programmes of the developing countries.

As a country that has achieved self reliance in diverse fields, Indian economic and technical assistance is eagerly sought by a number of developing countries. India provides many of these countries with its expertise in projects ranging from the construction of cement plants to airports and railway systems. A number of Indian firms have been active in this regard in South-East Asia, Africa and West Asia.

The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme provides Indian expertise and consultancy services to a number of developing countries for feasibility and detailed technical evaluation studies. The programme supports training of personnel in India in a host of areas like agriculture, animal husbandry, and small-scale industries.

India has established a reputation for appropriateness and excellence in a number of areas. Developing countries are increasingly finding cooperation with countries like India a very attractive option.

India provides facilities to students from Asia and Africa for university education, especially in professional areas such as medicine, engineering, and architecture. In addition, thousands have been trained in Indian institutions in diverse fields such as railways, mass media, industrial consultancy, business management, education, agricultural research, shipping and water resources management.

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