Development of International Relations Theory in India

TLDR: In this article, an audit of the state of International Relations Theory (IRT) in India is presented, and three facets of IRT in this connection are examined: the first relates to the possibility of a tradition of thinking on issues of universal theoretical significance, the second relates to an exploration of scholarly reflection on an important principle of Indian foreign policy, and the third facet examines the concerns that inform theorization by Indian scholars since the 1990s.

Abstract: The article seeks to do an audit of the state of International Relations theory (IRT) in India. It examines three facets of IRT in this connection. The first relates to the possibility of a tradition of thinking on issues of universal theoretical significance. The second pertains to an exploration of scholarly reflection on an important principle of Indian foreign policy, namely, non-alignment and the limits of theorizing it. The final facet examines the concerns that inform theorization by Indian scholars since the 1990s. In regard to the first facet, the article argues that there exists an Indian tradition of thinking on issues of order, justice and cosmopolitanism, even though it may not have been expressed in the language of IRT. With regard to non-alignment, the article argues that while it did not result in broader theoretical formulations, it raised a number of first order issues for further theorizing. Finally, it suggests that recent IRT invocations by Indian scholars reflect a more receptive con...