The essentials
Jawaharlal Nehru was both Prime Minister and Foreign Minister from 1947 to 1964 and shaped India's foreign policy. Its three major aims were to preserve India's hard-won sovereignty, to protect its territorial integrity and to promote rapid economic development. The Directive Principles of State Policy (Article 51) also ask the state to promote international peace and security.
Non-alignment was the core of this policy. During the Cold War the world was divided between a bloc led by the USA and a bloc led by the USSR. India chose not to join either military alliance, so that it could judge each issue on its merits and take help from both sides. Non-alignment was not isolation or neutrality; India actively took positions on international issues.
Key points
- India hosted the Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi in March 1947, before independence.
- India supported the decolonisation of Asia and Africa and opposed racism, including apartheid in South Africa.
- The Afro-Asian conference held at Bandung, Indonesia, in 1955 is seen as a step towards the Non-Aligned Movement.
- The first summit of the Non-Aligned Movement was held at Belgrade in 1961. Nehru was a co-founder along with leaders such as Josip Broz Tito (Yugoslavia) and Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt), Sukarno (Indonesia) and Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana).
- Some critics argued that non-alignment was unprincipled, or that India sometimes moved closer to one bloc.
Exam tips
- Distinguish non-alignment from neutrality.
- Remember the venues: Bandung 1955, Belgrade 1961.
Common mistakes
- Saying the first NAM summit was held at Bandung; Bandung was the Afro-Asian conference.
- Thinking non-alignment meant staying out of all world affairs.