Should India change its foreign policies now ?

"In politics, there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests" this is a very famous quote by Henry Kissinger which describes how political policies can get easily changed with the need of time. India is a country which has always been very rigid towards its foreign policies. We haven't seen any major changes since the time of independence. What India had decided at the time of independence is still getting followed by all the leaders who took over the rule from time to time till now. The biggest example of this is our Policies with the People's Republic of China, India is still taking all its treaties with China very seriously despite China violating them time to time starting from Indo-china war of 1962. In this article, I am going to explain why India needs to change its rigid and defensive Foreign policy to become little more aggressive. I am basically going to talk about our policies in relation with our 3 neighbouring nations that is Pakistan, China and Nepal. 

Pakistan has always been a headache to India especially with the issue of Kashmir and terrorism. The territorial dispute of Kashmir arrived at the time of Independence and it's still an unsolved dispute where Pakistan using terror as a source to hurt India's sovereignty. The dispute was not a big one at the time of independence but still, India's leader decided to take it to the United Nations. India is known for its defensive stance on all the matters rather than proactive stance which somewhat make other countries believe that it's India's weakness. India has won 3 wars with Pakistan since independence and still not be able to solve the Kashmir issue. Why? Because of India's defensive diplomatic policies. India always believed that they can solve the territorial dispute with Pakistan with talks and diplomacy through this kind of policy is changed after 2014 and especially in 2019 when Indian government revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. Here are rigid foreign policy took a U-turn and it was certainly an aggressive step towards our foreign policy. 

China is a country which has its territorial dispute with almost all of its neighbouring countries such as India, Vietnam, Japan etc. India's policy towards China has always been a policy of Appeasement. Yes, it may sound very coward but that's how India always behaved to China. India never takes any interference in the internal matters of China whether it's related to Hong Kong, Taiwan or even Tibet. India didn't even criticize China when Tiananmen Square Massacre happened in 1989 but does China also reciprocate this behaviour? No. Even China is the only Country who favours Pakistan openly in the United Nations against India and always blocks permanent entry of India to the United Natio

ns security council. Today India and China troops are having a standoff in Ladakh for almost a month now but India didn't show any aggressive stance despite India trying to appease china with its several policies. India has a High Trade deficit with China which means China earns a big part of its income from India only and not doing any favour to us instead of supporting Pakistan in every possible way. India doesn't seem to change its policy either. 

Nepal and India have always been friendly countries. India and Nepal people are connected with open boundaries, same culture and religion. The current aggression from Nepal is a surprise to  India as Nepal never acted this aggressively that too for a border dispute. Current Nepalese Government which is a Communist Party of Nepal's government has shown its closeness to China more than forever now. China is always like a bully for India and now it is using Nepal too against India. Nepal Parliament is passing a new law which talks about Inclusion of Indian territories into Nepal. Nepal didn't even bother to solve this issue with diplomatic talks and directly started giving bold statements and now passing a new law affecting India's sovereignty. India never had any major tensions with Nepal but today they are showing its aggressive mode. As Commander in chief of Indian Army stated that Nepal is acting in the behest of someone else, this sums up why Nepal suddenly showing such a bold attitude towards its long term friend. India's policy with Nepal is very non-strict and a favourable as India consider Nepal as a Friendly country. 

All the 3 Neighbours of India are aggressive than ever before today despite world is struggling from the Wuhan Virus. India is among the topmost countries who are affected by the virus badly. India is still very defensive with its policies while the neighbours are changing its policies with the time. Why can't India openly criticize China's involvement in breaking the Democracy of Hong Kong? Why India can not openly support Tibet and Taiwan and consider them as a separate country? Why India is still taking Nepal lightly and not taking any action even economically? These are the questions which need to get answered by the Indian government. India should not let these neighbour take unfair advantage of India's patience and they need to see the aggressive side of India too.