Indian civilization traces its earliest origins to the Harappan civilization in the 3rd millennium BC and had acquired a definite mold during the early centuries of the Christian era. During this period, India had not only developed a unique social order and philosophy of life, but also a set of political norms which, in turn, shaped its worldview (Cox, 1997: pp124). The concept of religious tolerance, for example, has been a leit motif throughout Indian history, including the period of Turkish rule between the 13th and 8th centuries (pp125). Although the socio-political order and ethico-moral norms conceived during this period subtly changed in response to changing situations, they endured. enough to strongly influence all subsequent movements and formations in the country, including governments. The history of India, according to Michael Wood, is a story of incredible drama, great inventions, enormous diversity, phenomenal creativity and the greatest ideas. But it is also the story of one of the world's emerging powers. (Wood, 2008 p. 8). India became a free nation only 60 years ago, but in reality, it has existed for thousands of years. Historical economists assume that India's GDP was the largest in the world until around 1500, when it was overtaken by China, only to be eclipsed worldwide. the age of European empires when the center of history shifted from the landmass of Asia to the coast of Western Europe, transformed by the wealth of the New World. (Wood, 2008 pp 10). A tiny percentage of the world's wealth, India less than 3 percent. India, a country of great diversity – religious, anthropological, linguistic, has gone through a stormy process of building...... middle of paper ...... fundamental human rights, which implies, among others, not to use force or the threat of force against weaker States. The vision of such a world is fully consonant with the history and cultural ethos of India (Cox pp143). India also faces many problems, including social inequality, rural poverty, overpopulation and environmental degradation. But it has immense advantages: it is an open society and a vibrant democracy with formidable practical and linguistic skills, and as a civilization that has attempted to be pluralistic and tolerant for a long time, it can draw on enormous cultural resources of its past. Despite difficulties and setbacks, the establishment and acceptance of a vibrant, functioning democracy has been a remarkable achievement over the past 60 years, and it is a democracy that has much to teach many others States. (Wood, 2008 p.10)