Strategic partnership
Topic: India's External Relations, 1947-1999: Non-alignment, Wars and Nuclear Policy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A strategic partnership is a label two countries give their relationship when they agree to work closely over a long period in many areas. These areas usually include defence, trade, energy and diplomacy. It is not set out in the Constitution or in any Act. It is a political commitment, usually announced by the two governments at a summit, and it does not bind either side to fight for the other. It matters because India can build deep ties with many countries this way while staying out of military blocs. That fits with India's older policy of non-alignment.
Example
India and Oman set up diplomatic relations in 1955 and raised them to a Strategic Partnership in 2008. Defence is a main pillar of this partnership, and India officially calls Oman its closest defence partner in the Gulf region. Regular naval exercises between the two navies are one way the partnership is put into practice.
Don't confuse with
- Military alliance (such as NATO): members promise to defend each other if attacked. A strategic partnership carries no such duty to fight together.
- Treaty of friendship (such as the Indo-Soviet Treaty, 1971): this is a signed legal text with set terms and a fixed period, which in that case was 20 years. A strategic partnership is usually a political announcement, not a treaty.