Foreign Policy and Diplomacy in India–East African Relations

Abstract

The article examines the role and impact of foreign policy and diplomacy in India–East Africa relations. The main argument of the article is that underlying the ‘soft’ diplomatic strategy employed by both parties are the ‘hard’ core security, economic and power interests that are the driving force for East Africa–India engagement in this rapidly globalising and competitive world of the twenty-first century. The article thus underscores that underneath the veneer of an assorted mix of inter-related diplomatic approaches employed to advance respective national interests, the engagement has been pragmatic; business-led rather than ideological; driven mainly by security, economic and power imperatives and less by official rhetoric of South–South political solidarity.