Spectrum Summary: the Evolution of Nationalist Foreign Policy | History for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Introduction

• At independence, India was a member of 51 international organisations and a signatory to 600 odd treaties. India had signed the Versailles Treaty after the First World War, largely as a result of having contributed more than a million soldiers to that war. In the 1920s, it was a founding member of the League of Nations, the International Labour Organisation, and the International Court of Justice. It participated in the Washington Conference on Naval Armaments in 1921-22.
• From 1920 there was an Indian high commissioner in London. Even before the First World War, Indian nationals were staffing a few diplomatic posts. It was no accident that Indians formed the largest and most influential non-Western contingent in the United Nations and allied agencies very soon after independence.
• The basic framework oi India's foreign policy was structured much before 1947.

1880 to First World War:

Anti-Imperialism and Pan-Asian Feeling

• The Second Afghan War (1878-80)
• The dispatch of troops by England in 1882, to suppress the nationalist uprising by Col. Arabi in Egypt
• Annexation of Burma in 1885
• Invasion of Tibet under Curzon in 1903
• A number of annexations during the 1890s in the north-west to stop the Russian advance. The nationalists supported the tribal resistance to these adventures by the British
• In place of an aggressive imperialism, the nationalists advocated a policy of peace. C. Sankaran Nair, the Congress president in 1897, said, “Our true policy is a peaceful policy'' So, the emerging themes during 1880-1914 were Solidarity with other colonies fighting for freedom, such as Russia, Ireland, Egypt, Turkey, Ethiopia, Sudan, Burma and Afghanistan

➢ Pan-Asian feeling reflected in

• Condemnation of annexation of Burma in 1885
• Inspiration from Japan as an example of industrial development
• Condemnation of the participation of Japan in the international suppression of the I-Ho-Tuan uprising (1895)
• Condemnation of the imperialist efforts to divide China
• Defeat of the Czarist Russia by Japan which exploded the myth of European superiority
• Congress support for Burma's freedom

➢ World war 1

• The nationalists supported the British Indian Government in the belief that Britain would apply the same principles of democracy for which they were supposed to be fighting. After the conclusion of the War, the Congress insisted on being represented at the Peace Conference.
• In 1920, the Congress urged the people not to join the Army to fight in the West. In 1925, the Congress condemned the dispatch of Indian Army to suppress the Chinese nationalist army under SunYat-Sen.

➢ 1920s and 1930 - Identifying with Socialists

• In 1926 and 1927, Nehru was in Europe where he came in contact with the socialists and other leftist leaders. Earlier, Dadabhai Naoroji attended the Hague session of the International Socialist Congress.
• He was a close friend of H.M. Hyndman, the famous socialist. Lajpat Rai also made contacts with the American socialists during his visit to the USA from 1914 to 1918. Gandhi had close relations with Tolstoy and Rolland Romain. In 1927, Nehru attended the Congress of Oppressed Nationalists at Brussels on behalf of the Indian National Congress.

➢ After 1936 - Anti-Fascism

• The 1930s saw the rise of Fascism in Europe and the struggle against it. The nationalists saw imperialism and fascism as organs of capitalism. They lend support to the struggle against fascism in other parts of the world in Ethiopia, Spain, China, Czechoslovakia. In 1939, at the Tripuri session, the Congress dissociated itself from the British policy which supported fascism in Europe.
• In 1939, the Japanese attack on China was condemned by the nationalists. The Congress also sent a medical mission under Dr Atal to China.

➢ After Independence

• Nehru is often called the architect of independent India's foreign policy. In his address to the Constituent Assembly on December 4, 1947, Nehru laid the foundations of India's foreign policy.
• Main challenge to Nehru was to evolve a policy that could help India compete on the world arena with the modern states, and for that, he realised, a drastic socioeconomic and technological transformation of the country was required.
• His objective was to transform India without becoming dependent on any particular country or group of countries to the extent of losing independence of thought or policy.

➢ Panchsheel and Non-Alignment - Panchsheel and Non-Alignment are the foundations of India's foreign policy.

➢ Panchsheel

• It was on April 29, 1954, that Panchsheel, or the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, were first formally enunciated in the Agreement on Trade and Intercourse between the Tibet region of China and India.
• It was stated in the preamble to this agreement that the two governments had resolved to enter into the agreement on the basis of five principles, namely,
  (i) Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty
  (ii) Mutual non-aggression
  (iii) Mutual non-interference
  (iv) Equality and mutual benefit
  (v) Peaceful co-existence.

➢ Non-Alignment

• The Cold War that began in the wake of the Second World War had no precedent in history. Almost the entire developed world was divided into two opposing nuclear-armed blocs, with the US and the USSR leading as “super powers’. The balance of power diplomacy of the pre-war years thus disappeared from the industrialised countries.
• At this point of time, the Soviet Union did not possess the economic or military support capability to influence the countries emerging from the colonial yoke. It was the West, which tried to incorporate the newly independent countries into its strategic grouping. Alignment with the West was economically attractive, but it would have created a dependent relationship, which was seen by most of the newly independent countries as obstructive to a self-reliant development. The idea of aligning with the communist bloc was not possible for India, in spite of its socialist leanings; it could not visualise a Chinese-type restructuring of the society and economy, being basically attuned to a liberal democratic political vision. Political non-alignment was, therefore, prudent as well as pragmatic.
• Non-alignment is the characteristic feature of India's foreign policy. India was one of the founder-members of NAM. In the Cold War era, India refused to favour any super power and remained non-aligned.
• Non-alignment, however, is not to be confused with neutrality. A neutral state remains inactive or passive during hostilities between two blocs. Neutrality is maintained basically in times of war, whereas non-alignment has relevance both in times of war and peace. Neutrality is equivalent to passivity, a neutral country has no opinions (positive or negative) on issues at all.