© 2023 JETIR May 2023, Volume 10, Issue 5 www.jetir.

org (ISSN-2349-5162)

Kautilya’s Six-fold Policy and it’s Reflection on

Indian Foreign Policy
HUMAYAN PAIK
Qualification- Masters in Political Science from the University of Kalyani, West Bengal

Qualified WBSET for Assistant Professor of Political Science

SURAJ SAIKH
Qualification- Masters in Political Science from the University of Kalyani, West Bengal

Qualified WBSET for Assistant Professor of Political Science

ABSTRACT
The importance of foreign affairs has been felt since the dawn of civilized society in the world.
For this reason, the issue of foreign policy has gained special importance regardless of the period.
Discussions related to India's foreign policy can be found in ancient times. Kautilya's fundamental
contribution in this regard is memorable. The great King Chandragupta Maurya, who established
the Mauryan Empire, appointed Kautilya/Chanakya or Vishnu Gupta as his prime minister (350–
275 BC). In his analysis of Arthashastra, Kautilya covers a wide range of state-related topics with
intelligence and practicality. There are 6000 slokas, 15 books, 150 chapters, and 180 sections. The
first five of these books, deals with internal administration. The following eight, deals with foreign
diplomacy. The final two books are mixed in nature. Kautilya’s Arthashastra mentions the six-fold
policy in terms of foreign policy which is reflected in the foreign policy of modern India.

Keywords: kautilya, Foreign Policy, Six-fold Policy , Indian Prime Minister, Reflection

INTRODUCTION

A comparative discussion has been done between the ancient Indian political thinker Kautilya's
Arthashastra's 'SWAMI', i.e. king, and the modern European political thinker, Machiavelli's 'Prince',
i.e. the king. This kind of trend seems to have become more widespread among modern scholars or
researchers. Kautilya has given a well thought in the field of foreign policy. According to Kautilya
''Foreign policy were designed to serve and promote the interests of the stat."(R.C.Gupta: Great
political Thinkers).The basic principles or rules that king will follow can be found from. kautilya's

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observation. "He, who is losing strength in comparison with another shall make peace; he who is
growing strong shall make war; he who thinks that neither can the enemy hurt him nor he the
enemy, shall observe neutrality; he who has an excess of advantage shall much; he who is wanting
in strength shall seek protection; he who undertakes work requiring assistance shall adopt the dual
policy"(R.C. Gupta: Great political Thinkers). This policy is still present in India's foreign policy
and is reflected in the regimes of various Indian Prime Ministers such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira
Gandhi, Narasimha Rao, Manmohan Singh and the current Narendra Modi regime.

Six-fold Policy

The six-fold policy is mentioned in Adhikaran No.7 of Kautilya’s well known Arthashastra.
Kautilya mentions six types of system or qualities of foreign policy which is known as six-fold
policy. The six-fold policy includes:

1. Sandhis (Peace)
2. Vigraha (War)
3. Asana (Neutrality)
4. Yana (preparing for war)
5. Samasraya (Alliance)
6. Dvaidhibhava ( Dual Policy)

Objectives of this study

 To study kautilya's six-fold policy and it's Reflection on the indian foreign policy.
 The main objective of this study is how kautilya's Six-Fold Policy has Maintained it's
Legacy in contemporary foreign policy from ancient India

Methodology

The study was carried out using the document review methodology in accordance with the
qualitative research strategy. It was done using secondary data from sources like books, research
journals, newspaper articles, and various websites. A qualitative analysis was done on the collected
data. The purpose of this study is to examine how the six-fold policy of Kautilya relates to the
current scenario of Indian foreign policy. Such document contents are examined in detail by
researchers with regards to Kautilya's six-fold policy. Indian foreign policy has been following the
Kautilya's six-fold policy since ancient time.

Reflection of kautilya's Six-fold policy in modern indian diplomacy

India became independent on August 15, 1947. India's foreign policy has been going through
various changes in these seven decades. The basic principles of India's foreign policy are still the
same but with the change of time the situation changes and in keeping with this changing situation
India's foreign policy has changed. Some changes have to be made. In this changing situation, six-
fold policy can be seen in India's foreign policy approach. India is a democratic country where the

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primary responsibility for determining foreign affairs is in the hands of the people's representatives.
The reflection of six-fold policy has been observed in Indian foreign policy from ancient time to
modern period. A descriptive review on this subject has been discussed ;

1) Sandhis (peace) According to Kautilya the Sandhi is a kind of distribution of wealth between
two kings executed conditionally. This distribution is generally based on fiscal, land and
sentencing terms. In fact 'Sandhi' is used in a broad sense through which security comes and
the work can be enjoyed fruitfully. Kautilya principally emphasized the importance of the
existence of peace. The necessity of peace for dispute resolution and for the success of state
affairs is undeniable. Practically, the application of sandhis (peace) is observed in of modern
Indian politics or foreign policy. As an example it can be said that communal violence was
created in the two newly independent countries, namely India-Pakistan; especially the
minorities ( Muslims in India and Hindus in Pakistan) of the two countries continued to be
tortured and oppressed. To eliminate this intolerance Nehru and Liaquat signed a pact in Delhi
called 'Liaquat-Nehru pact 1950' . This was the main purpose of the pact- To protect minorities
of both countries from violence .
2) Vigraha (war) Vigraha or war refers to the attacking behaviour or actions of the king against
the enemy. Kautilya has elaborated and analyzed various aspects of war in the seventh and tenth
chapter of his book Arthashastra. He used the word Vigraha in the sense of war. War is not
intended but inevitable. Kautilya, the far-sighted politician, was firmly convinced of this. In his
Arthashastra, he discussed various causes of war. He give importance to various causes-
extension of the boundary of the state, Retaliation of invasions, invasions for own safety,
protection of people from rivals. This Policy has reflected in modern Indian foreign policies.
such as:
i. The 1947–1948 Indo–Pakistani War, which Jawaharlal Nehru led
ii. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, which was led by Lal Bahadur Shastri.
iii. The Kargil War, which lasted from May to July 1999, was caused by the entry of
Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants into positions on the Indian side of the Line of
Control (loc), led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
iv. Uri the surgical strike under the leadership of Narendra Modi on September 28, 2016 was
in regulations for a terrorist attack on a military camp in Kashmir's Uri on September 18
in which 19 drops were killed by Pakistan based militants.
3) Asana (neutrality)

According to Kautilya, it is the duty of the king to adopt a policy of neutrality towards the enemy
in special situations. If the king realise that he cannot defeat his opponent and His opponent cannot
defeat him then king should avoid the war and alliance. Kautilya uses neutrality to mean
'Asana'.The example of neutrality or Asana in Indian foreign policy can be seen as an example
such as:

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i. India's foreign policy of Non-Alignment it's similar to Asana

ii. to keep neutrality India followed the policy of Asana during 2001-02 border stand-off.

iii. India recently chose a path of 'Proactive Neutrality' on Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022.

4 ) Yana (preparing for war)

The king's preparation for war against the enemy is called YANA. One should move forward in
accordance with the strength and capabilities of opponent. For example, The 'Mukti Bahini' of
Bangladesh was trained as part of Indian foreign policy under the direction of Indira Gandhi in
order to liberate Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971.

5) Samsraya ( Alliance)

The meaning of samsraya is aliance for self preservation and join hands with those who have
similar objectives. Such examples are mentioned below-

i. Indian government urgently appealed military assets to USA during indo-china war 1962
and India government got some aided from USA government.
ii. In 1971 India soviet 'treaty of peace and friendship'- the main objective of this treaty is to
get assistance from the then super power USSR during the indo-Pak war 1971.

6) Dvaidhibhava (dual policy):

Dual policy is a type of diplomacy. Dvaidibhava refers to ambivalent behaviour. By adopting this
policy the king goes for a open treaty when rival is more strong but the king has contrasting
thought in his mind and he secretly tries to destroy the opponent. India's policy for betterment its
relation with the China while concurrently building up its military force is a good illustration of
Dvaidibhava.

Conclusion

Kautilya was a realist political thinker of ancient India. Kautiya gives well thoughts about not only
in polity but also in economy, society, war, diplomacy, state craft and many more. According to
Kautilya political and military judgement in foreign policy need to be properly determined. The
subject of Kautilya's six fold policy is closely related with countries' foreign policy throughout the
period. The application of the six fold policy has been equally applied and transformed from
ancient India to modern India. For this instance we may refer the Indian diplomatic policy is
adopted internationally, Specially in China and South Asian Countries.

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