Abstract Since the economic reforms of the 1990s, Indian states have largely contributed to India’s foreign policy decision-making in two critical areas, namely, economic diplomacy and influencing India’s foreign policy with its neighbours. Given India’s growing importance in the world arena, one would assume that Indian states will continue to have an increased role in its foreign policy decisions. However, the Indian Constitution was framed with the idea of a strong union government and the power to drive foreign policy initiatives continues to remain under the exclusive purview of the union government. There is no institutional framework that facilitates the involvement of the Indian states’ in foreign policy decision-making. States’ involvement is usually on an ad hoc basis and often pushed through by strong state level leaders or by the coalition compulsions. The article examines the Indian paradiplomacy experience to note that paradiplomacy has the potential to democratize foreign policy decision-making only if it is supported by a strong institutional framework. A fragmented practice of paradiplomacy to suit immediate political needs neither promotes democratization of foreign policy nor does it allows for a meaningful engagement of Indian states in the global governance debate.

中文翻译：

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外交政策民主化：印度的外交经验

摘要自1990年代的经济改革以来，印度国家在经济外交和影​​响印度的外交政策等两个关键领域为印度的外交政策决策做出了重要贡献。鉴于印度在世界舞台上的重要性日益提高，因此可以认为印度各邦将继续在其外交政策决策中发挥更大的作用。但是，《印度宪法》的构想是建立强大的联邦政府，而推动外交政策举措的权力仍继续在联邦政府的专有权限范围内。没有任何体制框架可以促进印度各州参与外交政策决策。各国的介入通常是临时性的，往往是由强大的国家领导人或联军强迫推动的。本文考察了印度的代位制经验，指出只有在强大的制度框架的支持下，代位制才有可能使外交政策决策民主化。为适应当前的政治需要而进行的零碎分裂实践既不能促进外交政策民主化，也不能使印度各州切实参与全球治理辩论。