Online published on 23 October, 2018.
In its endeavour to achieve status commensurate with its demographic and geographic size and ancient civilisational magnitude, India has been steadfastly building up its economic and military capabilities. However, it has and continues to encounter multiple difficulties, partly owing to its internal circumstances—a complex and often unwieldy political system, internal divisions, overpopulation, poverty, etc—as well as the unstable and unpredictable international environment. This paper evokes the “five belts” which overlap India and affect its options and policies for better or worse. It reviews the major challenges that India faces and concludes that adaptability, flexibility and resourcefulness are critical ingredients of a successful policy, which must strive to maintain good relations and economic cooperation with all countries. A better equation with China, Russia and the US could help improve the interstate situation in the South Asian subcontinent, located at the major economic and strategic crossroads of the twenty-first century world.
