Table Of ContentKajari Kamal’s book on Indian strategic culture and Indian foreign policy is
a contribution to Indian strategic culture studies, Arthashastra studies, and
scholarship on India’s foreign policy. She bravely relates Kautilyan insights
to crucial episodes in India’s external policies and forces us to think about
non-Western approaches to International Relations.
— Kanti Bajpai, Wilmar Professor of Asian
Studies, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public
Policy, National University of Singapore
The book is a remarkable combination of the theoretical, empirical, and crit-
ical. Rigorous methodological design brings back Kautilya’s Arthashastra
to life by a creative use of theories on strategic culture and grand strategy.
Critical analyses of independent India’s foreign policies derived from ancient
Indic heritage of Kautilya demonstrate that Indic traditions of statecraft are
both enduring and relevant.
— Colonel Pradeep Kumar Gautam (Retd),
Honorary Distinguished Fellow, Centre for
Military History and Conflict Studies, United
Service Institution of India, New Delhi,
and former Research Fellow/Consultant to
Indigenous Historical Knowledge project at
MP-IDSA
The book is a significant contribution towards rediscovering Arthashastra.
Its strength is in excavating the nuances of statecraft that are derived from
the complexity of human nature which also provides the thread that con-
nects the past, present, and future.
— Lt General (Dr) Prakash Menon, PVSM,
AVSM, VSM, Director, Strategic Studies
Programme, Takshasila Institution, Bangalore
Deploying Kautilya’s celebrated work, Arthashastra, as the central text to
interpret independent India’s strategic culture as well as foreign policy, this
brilliant epistemic exercise persuasively demonstrates expansive explanatory
potentials of the ancient text across time and place. Engrossing in the analy-
sis, the book will be of immense use to scholars and students of international
relations and India’s foreign policy.
— Rajen Harshé, Founder and Former Vice
Chancellor of the Central University of
Allahabad
India’s approach to the world is changing fast, as it emerges as a major
economic power and a significant diplomatic actor. Understanding New
Delhi’s grand strategy – and the culture in which it is formulated – is there-
fore imperative. In that light, Kajari Kamal’s Kautilya and India’s Foreign
Policy is an essential work, providing an insightful reading not just of India’s
strategic behaviour since independence, but also that of the classic manual
of statecraft, the Arthashastra.
— Ian Hall, Professor of International
Relations, Deputy Director (Research),
Griffith Asia Institute, Australia
A ground breaking study of India’s strategic culture through the prism of
Kautilyan statecraft, the study is a valuable contribution to both interna-
tional relations theory as well as providing deep insights into the remarkable
resilience of the main tenets of the Arthashastra.
— Amitabh Mattoo, D.Phil. (Oxon.),
Padmashri, Professor, School of International
Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New
Delhi, Honorary Professor of International
Relations, University of Melbourne
Strategic Culture is a much used and abused term in the Indian context.
Kajari Kamal provides some much needed clarity to the concept by using
Kautilya’s Arthashastra as a key reference text in delineating the influence of
Kautilyan core beliefs on India’s strategic behavior. At a time when anyone
and everyone wants to appropriate Kautilya, this book systematically uses
the Kautilyan precepts empirically to make a broader argument about the
role of culture in shaping state behavior. It is theoretically rich and empiri-
cally detailed. A great leap forward in the study of Kautilya and Indian for-
eign policy!
— Harsh V. Pant, Professor of International
Relations, King’s College London and
Director of Research at Observer Research
Foundation, New Delhi
Dr. Kamal’s book is a distinctive effort to present the story of India’s foreign
policy since independence through a Kautilyan lens. In doing so, she has
made the teachings of an ancient master and his uniquely Indian approach
to statecraft accessible to contemporary academics. The book is a worthy
addition to the scholarship on India’s strategic culture.
— Shri Ram Madhav, Member, National
Executive, RSS
Kautilya’s Arthashastra
This book studies India’s foreign policy through the lens of Kautilya’s
Arthashastra, an ancient Indian treatise on state and statecraft. It assesses
the extent of influence of the foundational elements/core beliefs extrapolated
from the Arthashastra on the nation’s international behaviour to understand
the grand strategic preferences of independent India. The volume examines
the basic realist and cultural underpinnings of statecraft such as Yogakshema
(Political End Goal), Saptanga (Seven Elements of State), Sadgunyas (Six
Measures of Foreign Policy), Rajdharma (Duty of a King), Rajamandala
(Circle of kings), and Dharma (Order), mooted in the Arthashastra which
have withstood the test of time and space. It evaluates the continuity of
strategic cultural traits under the themes of nonalignment, bilateral relations
with China and Pakistan, and nuclear policy.
An important intervention in the study of India’s foreign policy, the book
will be useful for scholars and researchers of foreign policy, defence policy,
international relations, defence and strategic studies, political science,
Indian political thought, political philosophy, classical literature, and South
Asian studies.
Kajari Kamal is an Associate Professor at Takshashila Institution, Bangalore,
India. She is a guest speaker at premier defence institutions in India. Her
research interests include ancient strategic thought, grand strategy, and
strategic culture.
Kautilya’s Arthashastra
Strategic Cultural Roots of India’s
Contemporary Statecraft
Kajari Kamal
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Kajari Kamal
The right of Kajari Kamal to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent
to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-53567-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-32392-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-12938-7 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003129387
Typeset in Sabon
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
To 75 years of India’s Independence
Contents
Foreword x
Preface xii
Glossary of Sanskrit/Hindi Terms xv
Introduction xviii
1 Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Central Paradigm and
Grand Strategic Preferences 1
2 Nehruvian Foreign Policy (1947–1964): Realism
and Idealism 33
3 Shastri and Indira (1964–1984): Righteous Wars 58
4 Rajiv and Rao (1984–1998): Modernization and
Liberalization 84
5 Vajpayee and Singh (1998–2014): Alignment and
Autonomy 113
6 Modi’s Foreign Policy (2014–2019): Peace and Power 154
7 Grand Strategic Preferences and India’s Nuclear Doctrine 182
Conclusion 209
Bibliography 217
Index 221
