ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explores the complexities that characterise the relationship between status and power in the Indian case. The book involves closer adherence to the material and normative criteria of status employed with the additional creative feature of military restraint. In the post-Nehru period, the neglect of power was remedied. Slow economic growth precluded faster change in this respect, but India's military received higher levels of funding and duly emerged with the wherewithal to confront two adversaries, Pakistan and China. The strategy has worked quite well, bringing a change in the rules of nuclear commerce and indirect recognition of India's claims for being a legitimate nuclear power. The book helps to grasp the complexities of Indian foreign policy by disentangling security-seeking behaviour and status-seeking behaviour.
