Context:
India’s Foreign Minister, while addressing the Silver Jubilee celebration of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) on 15 September, 2026 outlined six focus areas of India’s foreign policy: responsibilities as emerging economy, nurturing and promoting India’s human resources, concern for global south, behaving as a civilization state, narrative building and public diplomacy in the age of social media and AI and finally strategic autonomy.
Foreign Minister’s address expressly recognizes India as a Civilization State. In this context we need to understand meaning of this term and its implications for foreign policy.
What is Civilization State?
Civilization State is a sovereign state which derives its identity, justification and global outlook on the basis of its civilizational values and norms.
The term ‘Civilizational State’ was for the first time used by the American scholar Lucian Pye in 1990 to explain China’s distinct sociopolitical character and unique cultural continuity, that does not fit within the European-style nation-state models. Later in 1996, Huntington argued that the non-western countries are not progressing towards nation-state model of the West, but are moving towards a different path based on their civilizational norms. Hence, he propounded the theory of clash of civilization in future conflicts. This further spurred the interest in the idea of civilizational state.
British journalist, Martin Jacques further popularized and expanded the term in his book When China Rules the World (2009) using it to define China as a civilization spanning thousands of years rather than a conventional nation-state.
Portuguese scholar Bruno Maçaes, later popularized the civilization state in many essays to describe other rising powers like Russia, India, Turkey, and Egypt.
The British scholar Christopher Coker in his book ‘Rise of Civilizational State (2019) discussed in detail the rise and consequences of civilizational states in Russia, China, Turkey, India and Japan.
It should be noted that the idea of civilization state has come in contrast to the western idea of sovereign nation- state, which has been the bedrock of the prevailing global order since the Treaty of Westphalia, 1648. Thus, the western scholars criticize the very idea of civilizational states as a threat to the prevailing global order based on universal principles, illiberal, exclusionary and authoritarian in nature.
What are the Implications for Foreign Policy of India as a Civilizational State?
There are two distinct impact of India’s civilization state status on foreign policy:
First, India is articulating her global outlook on the basis of her finest civilizational principles and projecting the same at the global level. For example, India projected the idea of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbklam’ during the 2023 G-20 Summit. India also projected the ideal of Saravajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay during the AI Impact Summit hosted by India in February, 2026. Before that Indian PM Modi has claimed India to be the mother of democracy in his 2019 UN general Assembly Speech. This claim has been reiterated subsequently in various official statements.
India’s reiteration of dialogue and diplomacy as the only path for resolution of global conflicts like Gaza and Ukraine is also the reflection of her long held believe in non-violence and toleration to diversity.
Second, India is also harnessing its civilizational resources to promote her soft power in the global arena. For example, Gandhi birth day 02 October was adopted as the International Non-Violence day in 2007 by the UN General Assembly. Similarly, International Yoga day celebrates India’s long tradition of holistic development of mind body and soul.
These are just few examples. India is trying to build he global narrative and outlook on the basis of her 5000 years old civilizational tradition.
Image Courtesy: Vivekanada International Foundation
Leave a Reply