Indian foreign policy has gradually evolved from the arguably impractical idealism of its early post-colonial years towards an increasingly pragmatic realpolitik, founded on the perception of its national imperatives as a predominant power in Asia. Faced with an unstable and unpredictable Pakistan, backed by both China and the US, India is no longer bound by its ideological and military alliance with the defunct USSR and finds itself at the heart of a troubled and strife-prone region in which it has few if any reliable friends in a climate of escalating global rivalry for power and resources.
