India’S Foreign Policy

Introduction

• All sovereign countries have their foreign policy. India also has its foreign policy. The term foreign policy refers to the interest, objectives,  and principles that a country promotes while interacting with foreign countries
• Even though there are some basic features of a foreign policy, they are not permanent. The changing International conditions result in changing the foreign policy of a country
• India’s history, culture, economy, and geography are some major factors influencing Indian foreign policy. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister, gave proper shape to India’s foreign policy

Principles of Indian Foreign Policy

• Preservation of national interest, disarmament, achievement of world peace, and independence for Afro-Asian nations have been important determinants of Indian foreign policy
• The primary objectives of India’s Foreign policy after Independence are sought to be accomplished through some principles’ viz. Panchsheel; anti-colonialism, Non-alignment, anti-racism principles in the UN, and anti-imperialism. Expanding these principles would be beneficial for the entire world

Panchsheel:

• Pandit Nehru was said to be a believer in world peace. He believed in the link between peace for the survival and development of mankind
• He saw the destruction caused by the two world wars, which made him realize that a long-term peace plan was in the hour of need for the betterment of a nation
• In the absence of peace, economic and social priorities relating to development tend to be pushed in the background
• The generation of nuclear weapons in the world intensified Nehru’s faith in the peaceful philosophy. Thus, he gave utmost importance to world peace in Indian Foreign policy planning. India’s first Desire is friendly and peaceful relations with all the countries, basically with the neighboring Nations and big powers. On April 28, 1954, at the time of signing an agreement with China, India advocated adhering to the Panchsheel, which are the basic five principles of Indian foreign policy for the conduct of bilateral relations. It comprises the following:
  • Reciprocal respect for each other’s territorial sovereignty and integrity
  • Reciprocal non-aggression
  • Reciprocal non-interference in each other’s inner affairs
  • Equality and common benefit
  • Amicable co-existence

The Panchsheel treaty computes best the principles of friendly co-existence with neighbors. It is a crucial element of India’s foreign policy.

Non-alignment:

Non-alignment is said to be the most crucial feature of India’s foreign policy. It is aimed to maintain the Independence of the nation in Foreign Affairs by not collaborating with any military alliance formed by the Soviet Union and the USA in the aftermath of World War 2. It was neither non-involvement nor isolation nor neutrality. The non-alignment concept is dynamic, which means not committing to any military alliance but taking an independent stand on international problems according to the merits of each case. The non-alignment policy won numerous followers in developing countries. It allowed them to safeguard their sovereignty and also conserve their freedom of action during the uncertainty-ridden cold wartime. India played a significant role in developing the non-aligned movement (NAM)

The concept of non-alignment came from a gradual process. In 1947 Pandit Nehru took the initiative to assemble the Asian relations conference held in New Delhi. Later in 1955, a conference was held in Bandung (Indonesia) of the 29 nations of Africa and Asia. The 1961 conference was the first to pledge to work together for peace, economic, cultural, and political cooperation, and colonial liberation. The first NAM conference, held in 1951, was a reasonable process to project a substitute to Cold War federation politics and asserting newly independent nations of their autonomous and sovereign rights.

The Cold War was a severe rivalry between the Soviet Union and the USA without combatting a direct battle to attract supporters in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It began soon after World War 2 and continued for 45 years. These two big provinces became two different poles known as East and West. World politics spiralled around these two poles. Therefore, the world became bipolar. Among the non-aligned, Pandit Nehru had formulated a special relationship with the President Tito of Yugoslavia and Nasser of Egypt. These three are considered the founding fathers of the Non-Aligned Movement. The non-aligned movement was a group of the newly independent nations who declined to submit to the dictates of the former colonial masters and decided to function according to their judgment on issues of worldwide concern.

The non-aligned India and the World movement is an anti-imperialist approach. As the prime inventor of the non-alignment movement, India has taken an active part in its development. The nations which believed in the non-alignment movement, nonetheless of size and importance, had an opportunity to contribute to global decision-making and world politics. In 1983, India hosted the 17th NAM Summit at New Delhi. India wished NAM would take up the motive of development, demilitarization, and the Palestine question. Since NAM was an output of the cold war scenario and the bipolar world, many philosophers have interviewed the relevance of NAM after the end of the Cold War and the cessation of the Soviet Union. Nonetheless, NAM has a crucial role to play, even in the existing scenario.

First, with the corrosion of the Soviet Union, the world faces a warning from the unipolar world. The NAM can behave as a check against US authority. Secondly, the developed (North) and developing (South) world are halved over several economic cases. The NAM remains a very appropriate forum for third-world nations to immerse the developed countries in a productive dialogue. Moreover, the NAM can prove to be an influential instrument for the South-South alliance. Such a thing is crucial if the third world nations are to boost their bargaining power vis-à-vis the developed nations. India resumed taking an active part in the non-aligned movement even after the Cold War’s demise. Finally, the developing nations united under the summit of NAM have to combat the reform of the UN and alter it according to the necessities of the 21st century.

India’s Case for a Permanent Seat in the Security Council:

The peace maintenance efficiency in the world is dependent on the effectiveness of the security council, but the Security Council has suffered in this regard with its outdated policy of unchanged membership. Presently USA, Great Britain, Russia, France, and China are the only permanent members of the security council. However, this composition of the security council won’t take the appreciation of the recent scenario into account where the Global power composition had changed since the days when these nations were made permanent members.

Since India has arisen as the fourth fastest-growing economy and also because of the leadership it has given in all international conferences, its contribution to UN peacekeeping, its track record in uniting the cause of the Third World, India has a powerful case for a permanent seat in the Security Council. We are getting backing from many friendly nations. A final decision on the course is likely to take some time because of its intricacy.

Conclusion

Certain basic principles are followed by  India in the conduct of its foreign policy from which it has not deviated much.The primary objectives of India’s Foreign policy after Independence are sought to be accomplished through some principles’ viz. Panchsheel; anti-colonialism, Non-alignment, anti-racism principles in the UN, and anti-imperialism. Expanding these principles would be beneficial for the entire world. Some of its basic features like non-alignment still remain relevant. India contributed to UN efforts for peace and disarmament and to UN peacekeeping operations. India became an economic superpower in the coming times, and in future too will take necessary steps to further its national interest in every respect i.e. political, strategic and economic terms.

Important pages