Many countries experience obstacles to efficient policymaking

 Many countries experience obstacles to efficient policymaking, reorienting goals and priorities. But Basrur’s analysis shows that numerous institutional problems hound India in particular, ranging from the structure of Indian federalism to bureaucratic listlessness. Many of these shortcomings are also evident in his discussion of India’s inability to formulate a coherent policy to address Pakistan’s persistent sponsorship of terrorist groups that wreak havoc on Indian soil as a case of involuntary policy drift.

In the case of cross-border terrorism, New Delhi has been unable to forge what security scholars refer to as a policy of “deterrence by denial,” or creating barriers that make it difficult for an adversary to inflict harm. Basrur focuses his discussion on the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, for which the Lashkar-e-Taiba group claimed responsibility. He argues that overlapping jurisdictions between security and intelligence agencies, along with a lack of coordination and contingency planning, led to an Indian strategy failure to ward off the attack.

Subcontinental Drift underscores institutional pathologies that continue to hamper India’s foreign and security policy apparatus. India’s policymakers would do well to heed his analysis. India’s political parties, both regional and national, often pursue parochial and short-term interests at the cost of national priorities. Organizational decision-making remains incremental and idiosyncratic. And an outmoded bureaucracy that privileges generalists instead of encouraging policy specialization will continue to impede India’s interest in playing a more significant role in global politics.