Explaining the Role of Domestic Factors in Shaping Foreign Policies: India and Pakistan in Comparative Perspective (2014-2020)

Abstract

Since 2014, India's domestic and foreign policies have reflected violent religious fanaticism and hyper-nationalism. If elected to power, Modi often stated that India would pursue a tough stance against Pakistan and would put Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) directly under the control of the Indian central government. This did not paint a positive picture. Since 2014, India's primary goal in foreign policy has remained to encircle Pakistan on all of its borders and isolate it from the rest of the world. Nearly all of the world's superpowers and the Muslim nations have encouraged diplomatic relations with India. India strategically employs all of the regional nations and global powers it has close ties to fight Pakistan. Without any regional or international pressure, it unilaterally changed the special constitutional status of Indian-occupied Kashmir. The reactionary foreign policy of Pakistan, on the other hand, did not rely on pre-emptive measures to fight India's foreign policy, which is primarily built on plotting against Pakistan. India consistently takes advantage of Pakistan's weak and nebulous international policies. This study aims to give a detailed analysis of the elements, in particular the internal or domestic ones that were responsible for influencing foreign policy decision-making in India and Pakistan between 2014 and 2020. Using Allison’s models of foreign policy has identified the factors accountable for Pakistan's unproductive and responsive external policy in contrast to India's proactive and forceful external strategy. One of the crucial findings that this study identified is that the democratic system and political continuity in India are the significant elements providing a strong base for effective policy making and building strong institutions as compared to Pakistan where the absence of both these elements are contributing to institutional crisis as well as weak and passive decision making.