Federalism and Foreign Policy in India—Experiences of UPA and NDA-II Regimes

This article, set in the tradition of analysing the domestic inputs to foreign policy, explores the interface of federalism and the making and execution of foreign policy in India by looking at six case studies drawn from the United Progressive Alliance UPA (2004–2014) and the National Democratic Alliance NDA-II (2014 onwards) periods. Although the Indian Constitution has vested the power to conduct foreign policy almost exclusively in the Union government, serious differences between the two layers of government in the Indian federation have never been unknown altogether. However, it is argued here that the twin developments of the 1990s, that is, rise of coalition governments at the central level and introduction of neoliberal reforms in the Indian economy, enabled States to deepen their footprints in the foreign policy arena. In conclusion, the article attempts a comparison of the two regimes’ performances in handling the issues concerned and asserts that instead of depending on ad hoc political management skills, these developments should be addressed through devising some new mechanism to achieve effective consultations between the Centre and the States on the foreign policy front.