India's policy of good neighbourly relations

Following independence from the British Empire India was divided in 1947 into a primarily Hindu-populated secular country (the part known since as India) and into a country defined by its affiliation to Islam (Pakistan). The embittered enmity between the two countries on the Indian subcontinent has been taken asa constant parameter of international politics. Tentative efforts towards dialogue aimed at reducing and perhaps, in the long term, even overcoming antagonisms began only recently. Against this background Hans-Georg Wieck, formerly German ambassador in Tehran, Moscow and New Delhi and president of the intelligence service of the Federal Republic of Germany for a number of years, examines the political and economic developments in India and in its regional environment.