New Delhi, July 27 - India's high-profile foreign office is holding the country back from attaining great power status and lacks a coherent vision for exercising international leadership, says Daniel Markey, an American expert and a former US State Department official.

In an article entitled 'Developing India's Foreign Policy Software', Markey, now senior fellow at Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), an influential US think tank, takes a critical look at India's foreign policy establishment and 'intellectual and institutional infrastructure' and argues that they are not in sync with a country aspiring to be a global power.

Drawing a comparison with China, Markey contends that India has underinvested in building physical infrastructure like roads, ports and power plants. India's software -- intellectual and institutional infrastructure needed to exercise power on an international scale -- is also much below par.

'Institutions charged with researching, formulating, debating and implementing foreign policy are often underdeveloped, in decay, or chronically short of resources. In particular, India's diplomatic service, think tanks and universities are not yet up to the task of managing an agenda befitting a great power,' writes Markey.

Amplifying the lack of foreign policy software that can shepherd India's rise as a great power, Markey has some harsh things to say about Indian Foreign Service (IFS). 'The Indian Foreign Service is small, hobbled by its selection process and inadequate midcareer training, and tends not to make use of outside expertise.'

He quotes an unnamed US official who feels that the IFS may be right-sized for Malaysia but is certainly for a country with India's global aspirations.