ABSTRACT
Discussions of Indian strategic thought tend to identify a certain set of schools. The labels might differ and the categories overlap, but usually the discussion focuses on Gandhian, Nehruvian, Hindu Nationalist, Realist, and Liberal traditions. The liberal tradition is something of an anomaly in this classification. For, unlike the rest, which are traced back to the colonial period if not earlier, the liberal tradition is implicitly assumed to have begun only in the early 1990s following the opening up of the Indian economy.1 The liberal tradition, then, actually refers to a variant of recent neoliberal thought and ideas. Such a definition results in a partial and anaemic appreciation of Indian liberal thought on military matters, which has a long intellectual history. Part of the reason for this neglect lies in the fact that the older liberal tradition appears to have little resonance today: unlike the Gandhians, or the Nehruvians, or the Hindu Nationalists, it is not clear who the contemporary heirs are to this tradition. However, this neglect also stems partly from the limited engagement with history by students of Indian strategy.
