Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
India, China, and Russia are all set to play a major role on the global stage throughout the rest of the twenty-first century. The relationships between the three nations are complex, however, with opportunities for cooperation in areas of convergent interests often being hamstrung by long-standing disputes and rivalries.
Pakistan is currently facing a number of significant challenges that have major implications for U.S. policy in the region and pose near-existential threats to the country itself.
While there will soon be a new government in New Delhi, India’s foreign policy challenges promise to remain more or less constant.
There has only been one peaceful transfer of power in Pakistan since the country gained independence in 1947, and the military has either directly or indirectly ruled for over three decades.
Over the last two decades, the U.S.-India relationship has evolved from one of mutual suspicion to one of strategic partnership. Yet the relationship between the two great democracies is still a work in progress.
Journalist and policy expert Pramit Pal Chaudhuri assessed India’s successes and shortcomings of the past decade and analyze how this spring’s general election is likely to affect India’s economic and foreign policy landscape.
Since 1947, India has forged and consolidated the world’s largest democracy—an endeavor that is far from complete. India continues to wrestle with such diverse challenges as ethnic conflict, governance deficits, and stunning economic disparities among regions and peoples.
The forthcoming Indian general election, scheduled to begin in mid-April, will be arguably the country’s most critical vote since 1977.
South Asia faces an array of security challenges. The ongoing U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the continuing violence in Pakistan, and the region’s intense militarization are creating a heightened sense of instability and unease among South Asian states.
In April, Indians will head to the polls to elect their next government. The incoming government will assume office saddled with thorny economic issues that range from large deficits and high inflation to sputtering economic growth.