Page 17 - A Gender-Sensitive Indian Foreign Policy- Why? and How?

Indian Council
of World Affairs

A gender-sensitive foreign policy includes a full engagement in
global debates on gender equality.

that we nurture in our homes - this is our family matter, no need to share
with the world. No need at all.

Outward-Facing Elements

A gender-sensitive foreign policy, I presume, includes a full engagement
in global debates on gender equality. The UN discourse on gender issues
is sustained through systematic consultation with civil society and
transnational women’s networks. A country with a gender-sensitive foreign
policy would enter into the same debates with the same spirit of inclusive
consultation. In other words, India’s foreign policy would be the product
of internal debate and open discussion that engaged not just think-tanks
with former government servants but also academia, civil society, people’s
movements and why not, community town halls.

A gender-sensitive foreign policy would also mean a deeper commitment to
global norms related to human rights and gender equality. For instance, India
has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (1979) with two declarations of contingencies and one
reservation. Culture and pluralism are offered as explanation. It has not
ratified the Optional Protocol which allows women to directly approach the
CEDAW committee for justice when national systems fail them. One could
read the Optional Protocol as a global reprimand for the failings of one’s
own system or one could prioritise the right of an individual to justice even
trading off some sovereignty in their interest. The latter would be the choice
of a gender-sensitive foreign policy.

A feminist foreign policy would abjure militaristic solutions to diplomatic
problems. I would venture to say that because militarism and militarisation
adversely impact all genders, a gender-sensitive foreign policy would also do
the same. Therefore, arms sales, military alliances and certainly, arms races
would be regarded less favourably than humanitarian or development aid, or
trade, as tools of foreign policy.

A gender lens puts human beings at the centre of our attention, and a gender-
sensitive foreign policy would do the same. The human and the humane

A gender lens puts human beings at the centre of our attention,
and a gender-sensitive foreign policy would do the same. The
human and the humane would be at the heart of our policy 17

A GENDER-SENSITIVE INDIAN FOREIGN POLICY Why? and How?