The Foreign Policy of the Raj and Its Legacy

Abstract

The Government of British India was a colonial state and, therefore, determinants of its foreign policy were very different from those of a sovereign state. Its foreign policy was designed to serve Britain’s imperial interests. To ensure the defence of India, it maintained states in the immediate neighbourhood of India as ‘buffer states’. The British valued their Empire greatly and took far-reaching measures for its defence and of the routes to India. They perceived threat to their Indian Empire from the expansion of the Russia Empire which is often described as Russophobia. The British Government retained responsibility for relations with the states in the Indian Ocean rim (except the Aden Settlement until 1937). But substantial expenditure was met out of the Indian Treasury. The legacy of the Raj has left an indelible impact on the foreign policy of the Indian Republic.