INTRODUCTION The turbulent and curious history of India-Pakistan relations makes it one of the most intriguing bilateral relationships in the modern history. Having passed seventy years of independence both the countries are locked into a confrontational matrix. This rivalry spans over historical, cultural and socio-political discourse. The contradictory rather belligerent policy postures towards one another have plagued bilateral relations. The strategic and security domain has further cemented this enmity. High scales and low scale escalations between both the states contributed distrust, suspicion and security dilemma in the ever perplexed equation of mutual hostility. This rivalry is ending within no near sight. The foreign policy dispensations had been prone to confrontation always. This pattern of relationship is crystallizing into a volatile and unsettled frame of reference. The reciprocal, regressive and reactionary nature of this relationship makes it more arbitrary and inconsistent. The longstanding conflicts serve as an impetus to this configuration of animosity. The broader contours of South Asian security pivots around the essential nature of India-Pakistan relations. The embroiled pattern of relationship between both the countries is compounding the precarious regional security environment. Problem Statement India and Pakistan have divergent ideological orientations, and the formation of Pakistan on communal lines embittered the relations. The contradictory ideals of democracy and secularism in India and Islam and the two nation theory for Pakistan stemmed out of pre-independence struggle. It marked a shaky start since the beginning. The foreign policy of a state is the reflection of its priorities beyond territorial jurisdiction and is guided by national interest. It is a broader framework of the objectives of a state and means to achieve them. States imply different tools to achieve their foreign policy goals. The interplay of structural variables and an impulse of anticipated outcomes define the foreign policy posture of a state. The course of foreign policy action for every state is different based on its capabilities. The determinants of foreign policy are also different for every state. India's foreign policy in recent decades reflects India's status as rising power and its multilateral engagements. India amid its rapid development and economic prosperity has come in the center of the attention in 1 past two decades. Its foreign policy orientation is trying to be in commensuration with its trajectory of emerging power. Globally India is receiving much attention given its consumerist economy, functional democracy, and rich cultural traits. India has overcome the sluggish and archaic image of a postcolonial state. India envisages itself in the bracket of a major power and intends to compete with the advanced and developed countries. It is also seeking a global and regional influence and wants to have a proactive foreign policy. The significance of domestic politics in foreign policymaking has been signified in past a few decades in international relations. A country's foreign policy is the reflection of the domestic behavior of a state at the external level. The domestic structure of India, on the other hand, presents a diverse and heterogeneous standpoint. Historically Indian polity exhibited three dominant themes secularism, nationalism, and democracy. Indian National Congress, the forerunner political party in India, remained espoused to these ideals. This secularism strengthens the composite culture which Congress believes is a civilizational trait of Indian polity. On the contrary, Hindu nationalism is an alternative rather fierce rebuttal of secularism and composite culture. It offers Hindu communalist variant of nationalism and counterweighs secularism with the ideals of the Hindu majority. These two dominant discourses shape the broader contours of Indian polity. Along with this India also experience competing views, issues of minorities, central and regional political parties and emerging issues of regionalism. All these factors collectively become domestic undercurrents towards foreign policy decision-making. Pakistan remains a predicament for India. The equation of India's relationship with Pakistan limits India's foreign policy ambitions. In the meanwhile, the hostile domestic perception of Pakistan in India makes it relevant and inescapable. The deeply grounded rivalry with Pakistan is cultural, religious and historical. Its expressions are a hindrance and persistent consternation for India. India's foreign policy outlook towards Pakistan speaks volume of this mutual antagonism. The event-specific trajectories foster the hostility and subsequent pursuit of foreign policy choices that trigger more confrontation at political and social level. The research undertaken aims to study and explore the theory and the practice of India's foreign policy towards Pakistan. It tries to address the changing themes and patterns in Indian foreign policy vis-à-vis 2 Pakistan. The research takes a holistic picture of India's policy towards Pakistan and then attempts to dissect the critical narratives on the pursuit of foreign policy choices by Indian nationalists and Hindu nationalists. It presents a detailed anecdote of the etymological origin and underlying theoretical patterns of both the dominant discourses in Indian domestic landscape. The research undertaken is unique in two ways. It is a theoretical study of Indian foreign policy through the domestic lens. Foreign policy is overwhelmingly a phenomenon of international relations whereas competing discourses fall in the domain of political science. This research attempts to conjoin the academic boundaries of international relations and political science. It endeavors to study the foreign policy construction of India through the pretext of Indian nationalism and Hindu nationalism. It is an interdisciplinary research which addresses the broader outlook of Indian foreign policy, narrows it down to Pakistan and envisions it in the domestic purview and further splits it down to the Indian National Congress and Bharatya Janta Party. It attempts to explore the divergent patterns in the foreign policy ostentation of INC and BJP towards Pakistan. Significance of Research This research is significant for the understanding of domestic undercurrent of Indian policy towards Pakistan. It is a rigorous academic endeavor to understand India's Pakistan policy through the party-centric view, ideological disposition and national impetus. It offers a fresh perspective on India-Pakistan relations through their historical and sociological lineage. It tries to understand the cognitive and normative discourse of Indian foreign policy vis-à-vis Pakistan. The anecdotal explanation of India Pakistan relations and prospective scenarios will be hugely beneficial for the learners working in this field. It will be a useful study for the students of Indian foreign policy, India-Pakistan relations, BJP, Indian National Congress and India's domestic milieu. Research Questions What are the major competing discourses in India regarding Pakistan and how are they serving as the domestic sources of foreign policy? 3 What is the historical and sociological construct of India-Pakistan relations, and how does it impact India’s approach towards Pakistan? How Congress and BJP’s governments differ in their foreign policy dispensation towards Pakistan? What are the divergent patterns and responses in the practice of India’s foreign relations vis-à-vis Pakistan and what is the future of India-Pakistan relations? Hypothesis The impact of Pakistan on India's foreign relations is very prominent, and Pakistan holds a crucial position in India's foreign policy matrix. There is a significant divergence in the choice of foreign policy actions in Congress led governments and BJP’s ruling dispensations. Research Methodology This study is based on qualitative research and followed an open-ended approach to consider how ideational factors influence the decision-making and reflects in India's policy towards Pakistan. The researcher tried to employ how the perceptions of Indian National Congress and Bharatya Janta Party influence their response towards Pakistan. Dealing with the intangible factor and its impact on Indian policy was quite challenging. The researcher built a comprehensive picture of India-Pakistan relations through the available record and published material. The textual analysis of the available policy documents, critical statements and speeches were made to interpret the precarious course of India's policy towards Pakistan. Indian Ministry of External Affairs in 2012 published a massive volume on India Pakistan relations, but that was not enough to suffice the need for primary data. Amid the confrontational nature of India-Pakistan relations, the necessary record was not accessible. It triggered the need for extensive semi- structured open-ended interviews to develop the primary insights. It included interviews with academics, policy experts, think tank researchers and people working on the same thematic areas. The absence of academic intelligentsia on this topic in Pakistan was a great challenge. Amid visa denial to India, the researcher traveled to the United 4 Kingdom to carry out the requisite interviews. Emails were sent to the relevant scholars to know their opinion and perspective on the said topic. The in-depth discussions and personal interviews developed insights. Some personal