Survey of India’s Strategic Community

Abstract

India is a rising power today. Within the next year or two, it will have the world’s fifth-largest economy. It already has the largest diaspora, is the world’s largest arms importer, and is the world’s third-largest energy consumer. India’s companies now operate globally and its military is active in its extended region. How India behaves in its international affairs will increasingly have implications around the world. But while assessments of Indian thinking on international issues can be derived from a variety of sources – official speeches and statements, government documents, interviews, and media analyses – no systematic attempt has been made to capture the collective thinking of India’s strategic community, resulting often in impressionistic assumptions about how Indians think about global affairs.