“Although Jawaharlal Nehru had expressed strong support for the Soviet Union as a prospective anti-colonial ally, his views on the Soviets moderated somewhat after the excesses of Stalinism had started to come to light in the 1930s. In fact, Nehru assured US Ambassador Loy Henderson in 1950 that ‘in the event of a World War … [India] would not side with the Communists’,” says a recently released book, Vishwa Shastra (Penguin Viking), written by foreign policy analyst Dhruva Jaishankar.
An opening on India-Pakistan dialogue was created with the election of Narendra Modi as PM in 2014, with him inviting the leaders of neighbouring countries to his oath-taking ceremony, he says in the book. During the Congress regime, the then PM Manmohan Singh desired a visit to Pakistan, but resistance within his own party prevented one from taking place, the book says.
Excerpts from an interview with Dhruva Jaishankar by Divya A.
You say in the book that India’s future will be largely shaped by its foreign interactions. How is that something new?
The book provides plenty of examples of how India has always been shaped in some way by its foreign interactions. Looking ahead, the world at large offers both incredible opportunities for India to make itself stronger and more prosperous, but also risks and challenges that will have to be countered.
PM Narendra Modi has said from being equally distant from everyone, India is now equally close to everyone. Is that diametrically opposite to Nehru’s non-alignment policy?
Despite the normative embrace of Non-Alignment by many Indians, true Non-Alignment was only possible for a brief period between about 1953 and 1962. After that, and especially after 1971, India was aligned with the Soviet Union. Gradually after 1991, circumstances changed. India’s economy became more globally integrated, it became less hesitant about using the rhetoric of a rising power, it managed to ‘de-hyphenate’ itself from Pakistan, and it began to play a role on a much larger stage, beyond the narrow confines of South Asia. There were periods when these trends accelerated, such as between 1998 and 2008 and again after PM Modi’s election in 2014.
Is China among the biggest factors in India’s foreign policy?
China is the single biggest factor influencing Indian foreign policy today. This is evident when you observe India’s engagement in various regions — in South Asia, in the Indian Ocean, in Southeast Asia, in the Indo-Pacific, with Russia and Pakistan, with Europe and the US, and with Africa — but also when you consider recent shifts in India’s trade, technology, and defence procurement policies.
It was under P V Narasimha Rao that India established diplomatic ties with Israel and ASEAN, and initiated a Look East policy.
Yes, some of the big changes began under PM Rao. He also made attempts at stabilising the border with China and made some initial outreach efforts to the US. But on many other matters, he dithered, notably on India’s nuclear programme. It was also in subsequent years that the Indian economy took off, affording Rao’s successors – Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh — the opportunity to do more. It is under PM Modi that India leaders made their first visits to Israel, that India established a diplomatic mission dedicated to ASEAN, and it deepened security links with countries like Japan, Philippines, and Vietnam.
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