Military Diplomacy and Regional Policies of India

Military diplomacy, as the art of diplomatic interactions and military cooperation, has now become one of the main options of foreign policy in advancing India's macro strategies, especially in the regional arena. India is the fourth military power in the world and has one of the most powerful naval forces, which provides numerous capacities for exporting products, providing services, and military-technical support for this country. The use of military diplomacy is primarily due to the legacy of this country's old doctrines of non-violence, which seems to have been strengthened by the post-colonial atmosphere experienced in the 20th century and the support of third-world countries. The next reason is China's active diplomacy as a serious and strategic competitor in South Asian countries, which has also led to the growth of the neighborhood policy in India. On the other hand, the countries surrounding India - except Pakistan - are often small powers that can be influenced by this country's influence due to some cultural commonalities and the need for India to provide security, defense, technical things, etc. The main question of the research is, according to India's peaceful approach in the international arena, "What effect has the use of military diplomacy by India had on the regional policies of this country?" The main hypothesis of the research, which is based on the study of library and electronic documents such as articles, books, defense reports, statistical databases, and descriptive-analytical methods, indicates that The use of military diplomacy has led to the increase of soft power, reduction of tension and crisis, profitability, credibility and increase of its regional presence.