India’s security approach and its space in global politics.

As India positions itself as a rising regional decolonial power by promoting its socio-cultural norms and carving out a new place for itself in the changing landscape of global politics, its internal landscape and security policy continue to exhibit processes and practices that hark back to colonial times. This article highlights these internal contradictions by examining India’s approach to addressing armed violence in the context of the Maoist conflict, as well as the racialising logic applied to its Adivasi population. It also links this approach to the homogenising and Hindu civilisation approach that has gained primacy in India’s foreign policy since the BJP came into power fifteen years ago. It concludes with the suggestion that, if India is to establish itself as a leading voice in the shift towards decoloniality in international politics, it must address its internal contradictions in matters of internal security. The securitisation of these issues has severely undermined the political agency of India’s marginalised population, thus undermining India’s claim to decoloniality.