Political economy of regional integration: a comparison between India and Brazil

The political economy of regional integration: a comparison between Brazil and India

Abstract

The objective of this article is to compare Indian foreign policy in its regional environment during the administration of the Indian National Congress (INC) party between 2004 and 2014, with the policy of the Workers' Party government in Brazil towards South America between 2003 and 2016. Although the focus of the analysis is the Indian case under the administration of the INC, the text is permeated by references to the Brazilian situation, within the framework of a broader time frame, instigating comparison in a broader historical perspective. The article makes the following move: initially, we reconstitute the general lines of the Indian inflection towards neoliberalism, whose original landmark is the New Economic Policy adopted in 1991. Next, we analyze the political dimension of the process, in which the distancing in relation to the values ​​associated with Nehruvian politics cultivated by the Indian National Congress party since independence, it corresponded to the erosion of its political legitimacy, and the rise of communal politics. In the third section, we address the general orientation of Indian foreign policy since the 1990s, focusing on the period when the INC returned to power (2004-2014). This analysis highlights the various initiatives at the regional level, establishing parallels and contrasts with the foreign policy of the PT administration for South America (2003-2016). The fourth section addresses the significance of Narenda Modi's election in 2014, which brought Hindu nationalism back to power. The text ends with final reflections, which explain convergences but also differences between the regional integration policy followed by India and Brazil, within the framework of globalization.