CHAPTER-36 :The Evolution of Nationalist Foreign Policy (Spectrum Modern History Rajiv Ahir notes for UPSC IAS Exam (Revision or Short Notes)

CHAPTER-36

The Evolution of Nationalist Foreign Policy

• At independence, India was a member of 51 international organisations and a signatory to 600 odd treaties.
• 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.
• 1880 to First World War: Anti- Imperialism and Pan-Asian Feeling

1. British undertook a number of expansionist expeditions which were opposed by the nationalists. These expeditions included—

• Second Afghan War (1878-80);
• 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; and
• 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.

1. 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—

1. condemnation of annexation of Burma in 1885,
2. 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),

1. condemnation of the imperialist efforts to divide China,
2. defeat of the Czarist Russia by Japan which exploded the myth of European superiority,
3. Congress support for Burma’s freedom.

• World War I-In 1925, the Congress condemned the dispatch of Indian Army to suppress the Chinese nationalist army under Sun- Yat-Sen.
• 1920s and 1930s—Identifying with Socialists- In 1927, Nehru attended the Congress of Oppressed Nationalists at Brussels on behalf of the Indian National Congress.
• After 1936—Anti-Fascism-In 1939, at the Tripuri session, the Congress dissociated itself from the British policy which supported fascism in Europe.
• After Independence-

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 Co-existence, were first formally enunciated in the Agreement on Trade and Intercourse between the Tibet region of China and India.
• 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.
• Panchsheel was incorporated into the Ten Principles of International Peace and Cooperation put forward in the Declaration issued by the April 1955 Bandung Conference of 29 Afro-Asian countries.
• And in 1961, the Conference of Non-Aligned Nations in Belgrade accepted Panchsheel as the basic principles at the centre of the Non-Aligned Movement.
• Non-Alignment- term ‘non-alignment’ got currency in the post-Bandung Conference (1955).
• In the conference of non-aligned powers—the first non-aligned movement or NAM summit—held in Belgrade in 1961 and attended by 36 Mediterranean and Afro-Asian powers, Jawaharlal Nehru explained the essence of non-alignment.
• Non-alignment is the characteristic feature of India’s foreign policy.
• India was one of the founder-members of NAM.
• Non-alignment as one of the principles of India’s foreign policy attempts to promote international peace, disarmament and territorial independence.
• It aims at democratisation of international relations by putting an end to imperialism and hegemony and establishing a just and equal world order.