India’s External Relations

About this unit

This unit covers how independent India conducted its relations with the world. It explains the principles of Nehru's foreign policy, especially non-alignment during the Cold War; India's relations and conflicts with China and Pakistan; and the development of India's nuclear policy. The unit shows how foreign policy is shaped by domestic needs, national interest and the international situation.

Key ideas

• Non-alignment meant not joining either the US-led or the Soviet-led military bloc.
• India played a leading role in the Afro-Asian Bandung Conference (1955) and the first Non-Aligned summit at Belgrade (1961).
• India and China agreed on the Panchsheel principles in 1954, but the border war of 1962 damaged relations.
• India fought wars with Pakistan in 1947–48, 1965 and 1971; the 1971 war led to the creation of Bangladesh.
• The Tashkent Agreement (1966) and the Shimla Agreement (1972) followed the 1965 and 1971 wars.
• India conducted nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998 and has refused to sign the NPT and CTBT, which it considers discriminatory.

How to prepare

Make a timeline of key events from 1947 to 1998. Remember which leaders signed which agreements. Expect questions on the meaning of non-alignment, the causes of the 1962 war and the outcome of the 1971 war.