Historians make a compelling case for the ownership of the study of India’s international relations. They point out that their works do not simply catalogue the circumstances of South Asia’s present security dilemmas, but rather highlight how contemporary dilemmas have frequently been rehearsed in the past, and show how their causes are inextricably linked with historical factors. They underline how solutions to the subcontinent’s security dilemmas are best understood with a rigorous grasp on the past. Therefore, this essay will engage with the following question: How does the discipline of history add to a more complex understanding of international relations and how does a historicised approach lead to differentiated conclusions about the international status of a nation state? Partly to illustrate these concerns, and partly due to a recent proliferation of writings in this area, this essay will focus on the historiography of Nehruvian foreign policy and then attempt to understand what this tells us about the nature of analysis of India’s international relations.