| INDIA'S FOREIGN RELATIONS reflect
a traditional policy of nonalignment, the exigencies
of domestic economic reform and development, and the
changing post-Cold War international environment. India's
relations with the world have evolved considerably
since the British colonial period (1757-1947), when
a foreign power monopolized external relations and
defense relations. On independence in 1947, few Indians
had experience in making or conducting foreign policy.
However, the country's oldest political party, the
Indian National Congress (the Congress--see Glossary),
had established a small foreign department in 1925
to make overseas contacts and to publicize its freedom
struggle. From the late 1920s on, Jawaharlal Nehru,
who had the most long-standing interest in world affairs
among independence leaders, formulated the Congress
stance on international issues. As a member of the
interim government in 1946, Nehru articulated India's
approach to the world.
During Nehru's tenure as prime minister of India
(1947-64), he achieved a domestic consensus on the
definition of Indian national interests and foreign
policy goals--building a unified and integrated nation-state
based on secular, democratic principles; defending
Indian territory and protecting its security interests;
guaranteeing India's independence internationally
through nonalignment; and promoting national economic
development unencumbered by overreliance on any country
or group of countries. These objectives were closely
related to the determinants of India's foreign relations:
the historical legacy of South Asia; India's geopolitical
position and security requirements; and India's economic
needs as a large developing nation. From 1947 until
the late 1980s, New Delhi's foreign policy goals
enabled it to achieve some successes in carving out
an independent international role. Regionally, India
was the predominant power because of its size, its
population (the world's second-largest after China),
and its growing military strength. However, relations
with its neighbors, Pakistan in particular, were
often tense and fraught with conflict. In addition,
globally India's nonaligned stance was not a viable
substitute for the political and economic role it
wished to play.
India's international influence varied over the
years after independence. Indian prestige and moral
authority were high in the 1950s and facilitated
the acquisition of developmental assistance from
both East and West. Although the prestige stemmed
from India's nonaligned stance, the nation was unable
to prevent Cold War politics from becoming intertwined
with interstate relations in South Asia. In the 1960s
and 1970s, New Delhi's international position among
developed and developing countries faded in the course
of wars with China and Pakistan, disputes with other
countries in South Asia, and India's attempt to balance
Pakistan's support from the United States and China
by signing the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation
with the Soviet Union in August 1971. Although India
obtained substantial Soviet military and economic
aid, which helped to strengthen the nation, India's
influence was undercut regionally and internationally
by the perception that its friendship with the Soviet
Union prevented a more forthright condemnation of
the Soviet presence in Afghanistan. In the 1980s,
New Delhi improved relations with the United States,
other developed countries, and China while continuing
close ties with the Soviet Union. Relations with
its South Asian neighbors, especially Pakistan, Sri
Lanka, and Nepal, occupied much of the energies of
the Ministry of External Affairs.
In the 1990s, India's economic problems and the
demise of the bipolar world political system have
forced New Delhi to reassess its foreign policy and
to adjust its foreign relations. Previous policies
proved inadequate to cope with the serious domestic
and international problems facing India. The end
of the Cold War gutted the core meaning of nonalignment
and left Indian foreign policy without significant
direction. The hard, pragmatic considerations of
the early 1990s were still viewed within the nonaligned
framework of the past, but the disintegration of
the Soviet Union removed much of India's international
leverage, for which relations with Russia and the
other post-Soviet states could not compensate.
Pragmatic security, economic considerations, and
domestic political influences have reinforced New
Delhi's reliance on the United States and other developed
countries; caused New Delhi to abandon its anti-Israeli
policy in the Middle East; and resulted in the courtship
of the Central Asian republics and the newly industrializing
economies of East and Southeast Asia. Although India
shares the concerns of Russia, China, and many members
of the Nonaligned Movement (see Glossary) about the
preeminent position of the United States and other
developed countries, different national interests
and perceptions make it improbable that India can
turn cooperation with these countries to its advantage
on most international issues. Furthermore, although
Cold War politics have ceased to be a factor in South
Asia, the most intractable problems in India's relations
with Pakistan--conflict over Kashmir, support for
separatists, and nuclear and ballistic missile programs--still
face the two countries. India foreign relations -
1995 loc data
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