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Religion and Indias international relations

Kinnvall, Catarina LU (2021) p.348-382
Abstract

The chapter focuses on the religious aspects of India’s international relations by paying attention to four interrelated developments, discourses and narratives. First is the more general understanding of the role of religion in the Indian national narrative after independence, outlining how India’s policy of non-alignment and exceptionalism served as a site for a particular representation of Indian identity that could not be divorced from religious identifications. Second is a discussion of how such religious identifications have worked to unite and divide the Indian population, as witnessed in calls for a Sikh homeland of Khalistan and in the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra (nation), through which Muslims have increasingly become... (More)

The chapter focuses on the religious aspects of India’s international relations by paying attention to four interrelated developments, discourses and narratives. First is the more general understanding of the role of religion in the Indian national narrative after independence, outlining how India’s policy of non-alignment and exceptionalism served as a site for a particular representation of Indian identity that could not be divorced from religious identifications. Second is a discussion of how such religious identifications have worked to unite and divide the Indian population, as witnessed in calls for a Sikh homeland of Khalistan and in the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra (nation), through which Muslims have increasingly become divorced from national narratives. Third, is how such identifications have played out in the diaspora with a particular emphasis on the Sikh and the Hindu diaspora and the role of religious mobilization. And, finally, are the ways in which the Modi doctrine and Indian neighbourhood policies have increasingly come to rest on religious grounds, as manifest in Hindu nationalist laws, policies and narratives of more recent standing.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Handbook on Religion and International Relations
pages
35 pages
publisher
Edward Elgar Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:85130664742
ISBN
9781839100239
9781839100246
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cce328c8-892a-446d-84ce-37c5128d51ef
date added to LUP
2022-07-08 13:53:16
date last changed
2024-03-21 11:32:25
@inbook{cce328c8-892a-446d-84ce-37c5128d51ef,
  abstract     = {{<p>The chapter focuses on the religious aspects of India’s international relations by paying attention to four interrelated developments, discourses and narratives. First is the more general understanding of the role of religion in the Indian national narrative after independence, outlining how India’s policy of non-alignment and exceptionalism served as a site for a particular representation of Indian identity that could not be divorced from religious identifications. Second is a discussion of how such religious identifications have worked to unite and divide the Indian population, as witnessed in calls for a Sikh homeland of Khalistan and in the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra (nation), through which Muslims have increasingly become divorced from national narratives. Third, is how such identifications have played out in the diaspora with a particular emphasis on the Sikh and the Hindu diaspora and the role of religious mobilization. And, finally, are the ways in which the Modi doctrine and Indian neighbourhood policies have increasingly come to rest on religious grounds, as manifest in Hindu nationalist laws, policies and narratives of more recent standing.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kinnvall, Catarina}},
  booktitle    = {{Handbook on Religion and International Relations}},
  isbn         = {{9781839100239}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  pages        = {{348--382}},
  publisher    = {{Edward Elgar Publishing}},
  title        = {{Religion and Indias international relations}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}