FOREIGN POLICY IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE and established means of communicating a country’s national interests and strategic concerns within the geopolitical arena. From the principles of non-alignment established by a newly independent nation in the mid-twentieth century, to the famous declaration of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakkam during India’s G20 presidency in 2022-23, which advocates for a shared future for the world, India’s foreign policy frameworks have consistently demonstrated independence, pragmatism, and a focus on peace and stability, despite lacking a formal doctrinal or institutionalised approach. India’s historical and cultural experiences have continuously shaped the philosophical foundations of its foreign policymaking. Furthermore, guided by a reflective intellectual tradition, India’s foreign policy principles have anticipated and responded to geopolitical and national developments.
There is a scholarly consensus on the evolution of foreign policy in India and its framing from non-alignment principles to expressions of strategic autonomy. Today, the geopolitical order, strained with wars, conflicts, and trade disruptions, coincides with India’s march towards the vision of a developed nation, i.e., Viksit Bharat 2047. As the most populous country and the fourthlargest economy by nominal GDP, soon to become the third-largest economy, India, in the twentyfirst century, requires an unambiguous approach and a culturally rooted idiom to foreign policymaking that provides the ideational moorings to its ambitions and global engagements.
In this context, the paper argues that the contemporary expressions of Bharat’s Vishwamitra foreign policy framework, in both political and academic discourse, present a coherent, multialigned, and engaging policy alternative that supports India’s rise as a confident and proactive global power. The paper suggests that the shift from non-alignment philosophy to the Vishwamitra Bharat principles offers further policy and practical imperatives to enhance Bharat’s role as a responsible, partnership-focused, and leading twenty-first-century power while advocating for multi-polarity and multilateral governance to promote a stable and predictable world order. The paper also provides a systematic definition of Vishwamitra Bharat frameworks and their analytical variables for foreign policy analysis.
