ABSTRACT
Foreign and Security Policy in India has traditionally been perceived to be the domain of the Executive. The Prime Minister, his Office, and the Ministries of External Affairs and Defence led by their respective ministers have long presided and acted over the matters that have a bearing on nations defence and external relations. The Parliament has had more of a deliberative role often discussing and endorsing the actions taken by the government of the day on these matters. Such an arrangement was sustained as there was a single-party dominated government at the centre for nearly four decades after independence and the opposition did not deem it fit to disturb the national consensus on ‘core’ issues of national interest. But not anymore. As the era of coalition politics dawned in India and reached a certain level of maturity, the Parliament began to reflect a far greater diversity of interests and stances than is often seen in the earlier instances with the unstated consensus on foreign-economic and security policy often breaking down. In a departure of sorts, the last two governments (UPA I on the issue of Indo-US Nuclear deal by CPI(M)and UPA II on the multi-brand retail issue by Trinamul Congress)saw coalition partners withdrawing support on foreign-security policy issues. The centre can no longer presume all onboard when it comes to the external policy. The present chapter tries to understand this transition of the Parliament and explores whether it is likely to lead to a more proactive role which moves beyond a deliberator to an active partner.
