Kautilya propounded the theory that (i) an immediate neighbouring state is an enemy and (ii) a neighbour’s neighbour, separated from oneself by the intervening enemy, is a friend. This is, no doubt, almost always valid. Nevertheless, to reduce Kautilya’s theory on foreign policy to just these two observations is to do him a grave injustice. Indeed, the theory deals with not just three states, but with a maximum of twelve.
