Tushar Joshi
PhD
Political Science
Tushar Joshi is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, focusing on the domestic drivers of Indian foreign policy toward China (2014–2024). He is also a Research and Policy Officer at the Australia India Institute, and writes and speaks regularly on Indian foreign policy, particularly issues related to China and the Indo-Pacific.
His analysis has appeared in leading platforms, including The Hindu, The Australian Financial Review, Observer Research Foundation, The Strategist (ASPI), The Interpreter (Lowy Institute), and The Diplomat.
Tushar has held research fellowships at the Observer Research Foundation in Delhi - India’s premier think tank - and at the Department of Political Science, Lund University (Sweden). He has also been invited by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to deliver a lecture on Indian foreign policy.
He has also gained experience in diplomacy and policy through internships at the British High Commission, New Delhi (Political Affairs), Asia Society, and with Macquarie Bank. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Sydney, where he received the Sydney Scholar India Equity Scholarship, and a Bachelor’s degree with honours in History from the University of Delhi.
Beyond academia, he remains committed to social impact. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he served as an Asha Corona Warrior, supporting healthcare, education, and food security initiatives in Delhi’s slum communities.
Contact:
Thesis
Domestic Drivers of Foreign Policy Behaviour: A case study of India's China Policy from 2014 to 2024
The rise of India and China as global powers has led to a complex relationship characterized by both competition and cooperation. This study explores the central research question: How do domestic drivers interact with systemic factors to shape India’s foreign policy towards China, particularly in the security and economic aspects, from 2014 to 2024? The research question emerged from the paradox in India’s China policy - simultaneously strengthening military capacities and engaging in trade and cooperating on global platforms. Conventional wisdom, such as various strands of realism and liberalism fail to fully explain this dynamic, as they primarily focus on systemic forces as determinants of foreign policy behavior, neglecting the influence of domestic political, economic, and institutional factors. The aims of this research are to analyze how domestic drivers, such as leadership, strategic culture, state-society relations, and domestic institutions, affect the security and economic aspects of India’s foreign policy towards China during this period. To achieve this, the study will adopt a neoclassical realist (NCR) framework, combining systemic and domestic level analysis. This research fills a significant gap by offering a more comprehensive understanding of India’s foreign policy towards China, contributing to broader debates on the role of domestic factors in foreign policy formulation.