State Foreign Policy

The foreign policy of a state, it is often argued, begins, and ends with the border. No doubt an exaggeration, this aphorism nevertheless has an element of truth. A state's relationship with its neighbors, at least in the formative years, are greatly influenced by its frontier policy, especially when there are no settled borders. Empire builders in the past sought to extend imperial frontiers for a variety of reasons; the subjugation of kings and princes to gain their allegiance (as well as handsome tributes or the coffers of the state), and, the security of the 'core' of the empire from external attacks by establishing a string of buffer states in areas adjoining the frontiers. The history of the British Empire in India was no different. It is important to note in this connection that the concept of international boundaries (between two sovereign states), demarcated and delineated, was yet to emerge in India under the Mughal rule.