Third, diplomacy plays a very important role in India's strategic thinking. The process of India's independence was unique. It was driven largely by the political diplomacy of its great founding fathers. Making an effort to take advantage from the power of others is the long-term core basis of India's strategy after the country's independence. This is because independent India is a relatively young country with no experience of unified governance. Besides, India's practice as a socialist democracy makes the Indian government vulnerable to diverse domestic forces. 

These cumulative factors make it harder for India to forge an internal consensus than a diplomatic one. This makes India rely its major-power diplomacy more on the central government's diplomatic activities carried by political elites than on the construction of endogenous power. 

India's diplomatic elites, most of whom are native English speakers, stand out in the country's strict selection system of diplomatic civil servants. They have strong diplomatic skills, foreign policy thinking, and policy-making capabilities. This is in sharp contrast to India's electoral system, in which officials are elected by ordinary voters. This naturally leads to New Delhi's dependence on diplomatic elites to guide its foreign policy strategies.

The formulation and implementation of each country's foreign strategy are determined by the international environment and its domestic conditions. India's highly centralized foreign policy-making process, combined with its highly decentralized domestic one, will always tend to lead India to make elaborate external strategic ideas. But with its hands tied by domestic situations, India has always encountered difficulties in implementing its wishful policies. The best way for a big country - especially an emerging economy - to properly develop is to build up its internal strength first. Foreign strategies can then play a supporting role in this regard, but should not be a prominent element.

(The author is director of Institute of Strategic Studies and International Security, Fudan Institute of Belt and Road & Global Governance, professor at the Center for American Studies, Fudan University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn)