Israel-Palestine and Myanmar: How PV Narasimha Rao’s cold realpolitik eroded India’s moral diplomacy

News Snapshot:

Former Indian Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao is best known for opening up the Indian economy to a liberal market regime after he took charge in 1991. But what is not so well known is that Rao engineered a subtle yet decisive shift in Indian foreign policy from “idealism” to “pragmatism”. Aided by Rao’s own ideological impulses and the broader geopolitical shifts triggered by the end of the Cold War, this change immediately reflected in India’s relations with two countries – Myanmar and Israel. The policy tweaks were so critical that they continue to colour India’s approach to the two...