The colonial origins of Nehru’s foreign policy

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses how Nehru’s world vision and foreign policy were shaped by his participation in the anti-colonial movement. During the Cold War years, Indian foreign policy was overwhelmingly guided by Nehruvian principles. Those principles were not completely overlooked even after the end of the Cold War when India made a shift in its foreign policy. Interestignly, even the most ‘non-Nehruvian’ government have followed some of the Nehruvian tenets. The paper also examines Nehru’s idea of Non-Alignment, his approach to the Kashmir issue, relations with China, and the question of India’s membership to the United Nations Security Council.

KEYWORDS:

• Jawaharlal Nehru
• Indian foreign policy
• Cold War
• non-alignment
• Indian National Congress

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Morarji Desai, Prime Minister of India from 1977 to 1979, was politically trained in the congress party. He was a member of the Congress party and resigned in 1969 to become a member of rival group-INC (Organisation). Chaudhary Charan Singh was prime minister between 28 July 1979 and 14 January 1980. His government was supported by the Congress party. Hence, the two governments could not remain aloof from the Congress’s ideology.

2. Vishwanath Pratap Singh, eighth Indian prime minister between 1989 to 1990, was earlier member of the Congress party. After Singh, Chandrashekhar became Prime Minister of India with a support from the Congress. He was in office for a few months. In June 1991, the Congress led coalition government under Narasimha Rao elected into the office.

3. H.D. Deve Gowda (1 June 1996-April 1997) led coalition government was supported by the Congress. Inder Kumar Gujral (April 1997 to March 1998) was a member of the Congress party and minister in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet. He left Congress party in 1980s and joined Janta Dal.

4. Report on the 1962 war, Part 1 P 9. The author read it when it was posted by Neville Maxwell on his website in 2014. The report was authored by Lieutenant General T.B. Henderson Brooks and Brigadier Perminder Singh Bhagat, and commissioned by General J.N. Chaudhri, then Chief of the Army Staff.