Hindutva Doctrine and its Implications for India-Pakistan Relations During Narendra Modi’s Regime

Abstract

South Asia is home to two nuclear-armed states, India and Pakistan. The regional peace and stability in South Asia can be linked with peaceful relations between the two neighbors. However, the tense political relationships between the two rival states intensified with the rise of Narendra Modi into power. Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), the ruling party, supports the doctrine of Hindutva having a dominant role in the foreign policy formation of India. The growing influence of Hindutva has implicated India-Pakistan relations since 2014. The cross-border skirmishes, abrogation of articles 370 and 35A from the Indian constitution that provided special and autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and Indian military modernization marked the aggressive policy of Modi’s regime towards Pakistan. The strained bilateral relations between India and Pakistan further the regional instability and uncertainty. This research aims to give a brief overview of the evolution of Hindutva in Indian politics. It will try to analyze the influence of the Hindutva doctrine over the Indian foreign policy towards Pakistan during Narendra Modi’s regime. It concludes that Hindutva is the driving force of Indian foreign policy towards Pakistan.