India’s External Relations
1. Write ‘true’ or ‘false’ against each of these statements.
(a) Non-alignment allowed India to gain assistance both from USA and
USSR.
Answer: (a) True
(b) India’s relationship with her neighbours has been strained from the
beginning.
Answer: (b) True
(c) The cold war has affected the relationship between India and
Pakistan.
Answer: (c) True
(d) The treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1971 was the result of India’s
closeness to USA.
Answer: (d) False
2. Match the following
(a) The goal of India’s foreign i. Tibetan spiritual leader who
policy in the period 1950-1964 crossed over to India
(b) Panchsheel ii. Preservation of territorial integrity, sovereignty and economic development
(c) Bandung Conference iii. Five principles of peaceful coexistence
(d) Dalai Lama iv. Led to the establishment of NAM
Answer: (a)—(ii), (b)-(iii), (c)-(iv), (d)-(i).
3. Why did Nehru regard conduct of foreign relations as an essential indicator of independence? State any two reasons with examples to support your reading.
Answer: 1. India decides to conduct its foreign relations with respect for the sovereignty of other nations and to maintain peace and security through mutual cooperation which shall be reflected in the Directive Principles of State Policy on Article 51 of the Constitution
2. India always advocated the policy of Non-Alignment, made efforts to reduce Cold War tensions and contributed human resources to UN peacekeeping operations.
3. Therefore, India took an independent stand and received assistance from the members of both the blocs.
4. “The conduct of foreign affairs is an outcome of a two-way interaction
between domestic compulsions and prevailing international climate”.
Take one example from India’s external relations in the 1960s to
substantiate your answer.
Answer:
The statement is justified to maximum extent to be proved during ‘Sino-Indian Conflict of 1962’ to dent India’s image at home and international level, India had to approach the Americans and the British for military assistance to tide over the issues. The Soviet Union remained neutral during the conflict:
(i) All the occurrings, created a sense of national humiliation but strengthened a spirit of nationalism also on the other hand.
(ii) Pt. Nehru was also criticised for his naive assessment of Chinese intentions and lack of military preparedness.
(iii) Political mood of country began to change, when no-confidence motion against Nehru moved in and debated in Lok-Sabha.
(iv) ‘Sino-Indian Conflict’ splitted the Communist Party of India in 1964s split fraction formed communist party of India (CPI-M).
(v) Besides, the war with China alerted Indian leadership to volatile situation in the North east region.
(vi) Apart from being isolated and extremely underdeveloped, this region posed the challenge of national integration in front of India.
5. Identify any two aspects of India’s foreign policy that you would like to
retain and two that you would like to change, if you were to become a
decision maker. Give reasons to support your position.
Answer:
Two aspects to support:
1. India always maintained the dignity and image of a peace loving country by taking initiatives to bring equality and understanding among nations i.e. India supported to end the Korean War in 1953, French rule in China, US role in Vietnam.
2. India's non-alignment initiative is also commendable for maintaining mutual understanding and security. Even in the post-Cold War era, NEM became an effective tool to make the Security Council more effective and democratic.
Two aspects to change:
1. India faced three wars during the decade 1962-72 and its peaceful image played a very limited role.
2. Conflicts with neighboring countries like China and Pakistan derailed India’s concept of regional cooperation under SAARC.
Therefore, India must adopt a diplomatic and defensive posture in its foreign policy to maintain its independent entity.
6. Write short notes on the following.
(a) India’s Nuclear policy
(b) Consensus in foreign policy matters
Answer:
(a) India's Nuclear Policy:
1. India advocates first use and reiterates India’s commitment to global verifiability on non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament loadings to a nuclear-weapon-free world.
2. Pont. Nehru always promoted ’ science and technology to build
Modern India, that is, the launch of the nuclear program in the late 1940s under the direction of Homi J. Bhoba.
3. India was against nuclear weapons, hence requested a lot of nuclear disarmament to the superpowers.
4. India always considered the NPT discriminatory and refused to sign it.
5. Even India’s first nuclear test in May 1974 was termed as a peaceful explosion and India argued for using nuclear power only for peaceful purposes.
(6) Consensus on foreign policy issues:
1. Pont. Nehru played an important role in the architecture of setting the national agenda for foreign policy.
2. As both Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, he had a profound influence on the formulation and implementation of India's foreign policy from 1946 t3. India's foreign policy played a limited role in party politics when different parties came to power from time to time.
7. India’s foreign policy was built around the principles of peace and
cooperation. But India fought three wars in a space of ten years
between 1962 and 1971. Would you say that this was a failure of the
foreign policy? Or would you say that this was a result of international
situation? Give reasons to support your answer.
Answer:
No, this was not a failure of foreign policy but this was a result of the international situation:
1. Chinese Invasion 1962:
(a) Serious conflict broke out in 1950 when China occupied Tibet and removed the historical buffer between the two nations and India did not openly oppose it.
(b) India became uncomfortable, when China began to suppress Tibetan culture.
(c) Another border dispute arose when China claimed the Aksai Chin area and Nefa (much of the state of Arunachal Pradesh) within Indian territory.
(d) Despite prolonged correspondence and discussions, these issues have not been resolved even by the top leaders of the country.
(e) Therefore, India had to engage in conflict.
2. War with Pakistan:
(a) In 1965, a serious armed conflict broke out between the two countries over the partition of Kashmir at the initiative of Pakistan.(b) In 1966, hostilities between Lai Bahadur Shastri,
(b) Minister of India, and General Ayub Khan of Pakistan came to an end with the intervention of the United Nations and the signing of the Tashkent Agreement.
(c) The 1965 war further aggravated India’s already difficult economic situation.
3. 1971 Bangladesh War:
(a) In 1970 Pakistan faced its biggest crisis on the road to partition i.e. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s Party emerged victorious in West Pakistan while Awami League led by “Sheikh Mujibur- Rehman” swept East Pakistan.
(b) The Bengali people of East Pakistan voted in protest against the discriminatory attitude of West Pakistan, which was unacceptable to the rulers of West Pakistan.
(c) In 1971, the Pakistani army arrested Sheikh Mujib and opened a zone of terror over East Pakistan. This led to the people's struggle for the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan.
(d) India had to bear 8 million refugees who fled East Pakistan for refuge. Therefore, India had to provide moral and material support for independence
Struggle in Bangladesh.
(e) Full-fledged war between India and Pakistan broke out in December 1971, when Pakistan invaded Punjab and Rajasthan in retaliation for attacks from India.
(f) Within ten days, the Indian army surrounded Dhaka and Pakistan had to surrender as a free country along with Bangladesh, India declared a unilateral ceasefire and in 1972 the Shimla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan.
(g) Most people in India saw this moment as a clear sign of India’s pride and India’s growing military strength.
