To be sure, some of this questioning reflects both fear and condescension of the current great powers to the rising ones. As the newest great power, India is under no compulsion to pass any test designed by the declining ones.

As a democracy, India, however, owes itself an answer to an important question: to what purposes should New Delhi deploy its accumulating national power and international prestige?

In an analysis last year of the changing global balance of power, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee affirmed that India will not fall short of the new expectations of it from within the nation and abroad.

“As the world comes to terms with a rising India, we must, in turn, bear the burdens that come with being an important power... Whether it is in addressing the new global challenges — from trade to environment to international security — or in the new regional opportunities for peace and prosperity, India is ready to fulfil its obligations,” he said.

Since then, of course, the UPA government’s foreign policy has been thoroughly shaken by its Left allies who insist India think small. The Congress leadership’s vacillations on the civil nuclear initiative and its confused response to the Tibet question have confirmed the suspicion that the government may have lost the plot.

Whether the Congress leadership can measure up to India’s new opportunities or not, the nation will have to eventually shift from its traditional emphasis on the notion of “autonomy” towards “responsibility”.

In India there is a strong intellectual attachment to the idea of strategic autonomy. One could, however, ask whether the focus on autonomy is the product of a specific historical circumstance or a permanent organising principle of India’s foreign policy.

... contd.