what is New Delhi to do?
One of the hallmarks of a major power is that it tries to shape its strategic environment proactively rather than reacting on an ad hoc basis when challenges loom or opportunities arise. Thus far, India has shown little political imagination in shaping its strategic milieu. It appears to be a peculiar feature of India’s political culture that it can only tackle problems when they reach crisis proportions. For example, India undertook a major defense-industrialization and modernization effort only after its disastrous defeat in the 1962 Sino-Indian border war. Similarly, New Delhi abandoned the infamous “license permit quota raj” only in the aftermath of an unprecedented balance-of-payments crisis in 1991 when India was on the verge of defaulting on loan payment to a number of multilateral banks. India finally realigned its foreign policy only when confronted with the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. The Indian political elite responds effectively to immediate, t
