The Republic of India, as probably the most culturally and religiously diverse country in the world, has built a very unique socio-political system which is based on cross-cultural compromises between various communities. The ideological foundations of secularism and socialist development were implemented by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. For almost half a century, they symbolised the identity of the state and constituted the essential elements of every official narrative by the Indian National Congress. Nehru was also the maker of India’s main foreign policy vectors, which were generally approved by subsequent governments. Although the ideology of socialist development was eventually replaced with a free market economy, the concept of secularism remained relevant in the public sphere. The author presents the gradual process of socio-economic transformation and describes the international context of building the image of the country in the 20th century. With the Bharatiya Janata Party coming to power in 2014, the old philosophy of Nehruvian secularism is gradually being undermined by the followers of Hindutva, Hindu fundamentalists. The author analyses the three-layered narratives constructed by the ruling coalition and widely promoted both at home and abroad. The third layer, being most radical, is directed against the Muslim community which is the biggest religious minority in India. The Hindutva ideology, although not always clearly postulated by the current government, may contribute to communal polarisations and the eruption of interfaith violence in the years to come.