From its inception on 26 January 1950, the Republic of India has possessed the strategic vision of playing a major role in Asian and world affairs. During the Cold War period, it was a leading member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), but an extremely low economic growth rate held India back for many years. After its economic liberalisation in the early 1990s, however, the economy began to grow much faster. While domestic economic development will remain one of India’s main strategic objectives in the twenty-first century, the financial resources that it has accrued from consistent healthy annual growth rates will enable India to pursue its strategic vision in the international arena with greater vigour.

India remains in contention to become a permanent member of any future reformed United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and is an important participant in a large number of regional co-operation initiatives, such as the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC), Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), East Asia Summit (EAS) and the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO). The Indian Navy (IN) is planning to play an ever greater role in the Indian Ocean with the steady acquisition of air, surface and sub-surface assets. India envisions itself as playing a leading role in regional and, perhaps, even global strategic stability. In pursuing such an ambitious strategic vision, it would be prudent to give due importance to its immediate neighbourhood, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is doing in South Asia, including its closest maritime neighbour, Sri Lanka.