ABSTRACT
The concluding remarks are divided in two sections: the foreign policy of the colonial state and the foreign policy inheritance of the Republic of India.
As a subordinate government, the Government of colonial India maintained relations with states in the periphery of the Indian Empire and the routes to it. But the policy was framed in Britain, in the interest of Britain. The costs of maintaining the army, establishments abroad, and wars of aggression and defence were paid out of the revenues of India. Why did the British maintain the Indian Empire so tenaciously? What benefits did they derive? Such questions have not really been taken up by the colonizers.
In order to comprehend the foreign policy of India after 1947, it is important to study the foreign policy of colonial India. Apart from the extant foreign affairs organisation and bureaucratic precedents, India and Pakistan inherited 627 treaties and engagements relating to foreign countries. Along the northern frontier, the political geography created by the British caused extreme complications after the establishment of the Peoples’ Republic of China. This has led to disputes and wars. The issue remains unresolved even after seventy years.
