India and the Non-Alignment Movement
India's contribution to NAM, different phases, Nehru's role, current relevance of non-alignment
Origins of NAM
During early phase of cold war, while India went for Non-alignment, China chose to remain closer to Soviet Union. Indian Prime Minister, who also happened to be foreign minister, considered it in India's interest to befriend China. India one of the first non-communist country to recognised the People's Republic of China (December 1949) and also promoted its representation in the United Nations.
The trade agreement was followed by the visit of Chinese premier to India (June 1954), and Nehru's visit to Beijing 3 months later. The leaders also met few months later in Bandung Conference of Afro Asian nations in April 1955. Together the two leaders led the dialogue on evolving a common approach for developing countries to deal with the intricacies of international politics in the midst of Cold War. India consistently championed the cause of China's representation in the UN, so did many other developing countries.
The New International Economic Order (NIEO) is a movement by the developing and third world countries to end economic colonialism and dependency through a new economic model. The main argument of third world countries is that - the current international economic order is a form of neo-colonialism and perpetuates inequality.
After 2 nd World War, while the newly decolonized countries gained political sovereignty, it was also felt that their de jure (by law) political colonization ended only to be replaced by a de facto (in practice) economic colonization. Thus, NIEO became a central theme of discussion in forums like NAM, Group of 77 and UNCTAD.
Nehru's Role
In the early period after independence, India was a 'non-aligned' nation, a leader of the Non-Alignment Movement. Hence the obvious tendency of the Indian government was 'maintaining maximum distance from great powers'. Thus with few interactions at the United Nations, the USA was not a priority in Indian foreign policy.
While some analysts criticize Nehru for supporting China's entry into the UN, some also argue that Nehru's China policy enabled India to manage peace and tranquility on the northeastern borders for at least fifteen years. There is also a debate around Nehru sacrificing the permanent seat at UNSC for India, once in 1950 when offered by US and again in 1955 when offered by USSR. However, it remains a highly politicized issue.
The war was a blow India's image as a leader of the developing world. India's non-aligned policy was compromised and Nehru had to make an appeal to the United States for military assistance. Nehru was criticised for his idealistic foreign policy and failure to defend the country's honour.
Post-independence, India was seen by the Soviets as a stable, populated postcolonial nation that was becoming a leader among nonaligned and anticolonial nations and that might work with them to thwart American aspirations in Asia. For India, the Soviet Union was a crucial ally for its economy and defence, promoting both growth and security. Moscow and New Delhi also offered each other diplomatic assistance; during significant Cold War events, such as the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. In the United Nations, India voted with the Soviet Union or abstained from voting to denounce the Soviet Union. The Soviet government also supported India's claim to Kashmir.
Since independence, India have played a significant role in advocating and developing NIEO. South-south cooperation have been one of the important pillar of Indian foreign policy and reflects the Indian spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (whole world is one family).
Phases of India's Non-Alignment
The relations between India and the United States go back even before India secured its independence. It is interesting to note that it was an essay by American Humanist and philosopher Henry David Thoreau on 'Civil Disobedience', which inspired Gandhian strategy in South Africa and later in India. A few decades later, it was the Gandhian ideal of non-violence, which became a major inspiration for the 'Civil Rights Movement', led by Martin Luther King Jr.
In these times, the USA's stand on a number of issues didn't endear itself to India. The Kashmir issue, UN intervention in it, and the treatment of Pakistan, admitting it in CENTO( Central Treaty Organisation) & and SEATO (South East Asian Treaty Organisation) created an impression in India that the US didn't stand for her.
USA did help India when in the mid-1960s, India was hit by twin droughts (1965 and 1966). The United States supplied sufficient grains at low prices to India, and millions of lives were saved.
The India-Us relations touched their Nadir when in 1971, the Pakistani army unleashed a genocide in East Pakistan. It killed 15 lakh Bengali Pakistanis, raped thousands of women, forcing an exodus of nearly 1 crore refugees to West Bengal. However, US President Richard Nixon & and Secretary of State Dr Henry Kissinger opted to support Pakistan and even tried to intimidate India by moving the US 7th fleet to the Bay of Bengal. The relations soured further in 1974 when India carried out a nuclear test for the first time.
The trend reversed with the the end of Cold War and the opening up of the Indian economy during 1991-92. The Eastern bloc had ceased to exist, NAM had lost its relevance, the USSR was no more a threat, and the Indo-US relations seemed promising.
However, this positive phase received a drastic setback when India carried out 5 nuclear tests in May 1998. An enraged US imposed severe sanctions on India; with her allies Japan, Canada and Australia following the suit. The ban included key Indian Defence and science organizations and laboratories as well as well-known scientists.
In March 2000, Bill Clinton became the first US President to visit India, after a gap of 22 years. A mechanism of cooperation and coordination was set in motion that shaped relations in times to come. The relations started improving, with the Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee calling India and the United States "natural allies in the 21 st century."
Most of the sanctions imposed after nuclear tests were eventually lifted after several rounds of talk between the nations. The watershed movement came with the signing of the Civil Nuclear Deal in 2008 when the US decided to end India's nuclear apartheid. India was given an exception in the US Laws which allowed it to accept India as a nuclear power without her having to sign the NPT.
India US used to be known as 'estranged democracies' (Dennis Kux). While Vajpayee called the USA a natural ally, Prime Minister Modi held that India's US relationship has overcome the "hesitations of history". In the words of Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar, "India and the US earlier used to deal with each other, and now they work with each other."
In the backdrop of all these developments, prime minister Indira Gandhi took steps to normalise relations with China. To begin with, full-fledged diplomatic relations were established in 1976. The process continued during the Janata Party rule. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then foreign minister, visited China in 1979 and held dialogues with senior leaders of the Chinese Communist Party.
The 1980s saw several rounds of border talks where two countries sought to amicably settle the prolonged dispute. Chinese Premier Hua visited India in 1981 and gave a further boost to the increased interactions between the two countries. The seventh round of border talks between 1981 and 1986 completely unfroze the Sino-Indian relationship, although a lasting solution to the contentious issues had not yet been arrived at.
The India China relationship again turned sour when India carried out a series of nuclear tests in 1998. However, soon India took steps to address the Chinese concern. India assured the China that it perceived no threat from it. Official interactions soon picked up and culminated in Chinese premier's five- day official visit to India in 2002.
NAM in Cold War
On the other hand, the US perceived India as too close to the Communist Soviet Union. Inspired by the USSR, India adopted a socialist economic model. The USSR also helped India in setting up heavy Industries, supplying defence needs and vetoed in favour of India in UN on the Kashmir issue many times. Further India's pivotal role in conceiving, launching and expanding the Non-Alignment Movement created a degree of suspicion and aversion towards India in the United States.
While India seeks to lead the third-world countries in the global environmental debate of North vs South, the United States is the de facto leader of the global North. This often leads to debate around the issue of 'historic responsibility', 'per-capita emissions / total emissions', financing technology for green energy transition etc.
"Democracy and nonalignment are part of the long-standing foreign-policy ideologies of the United States and India, and they are likely to remain an important part of each country's domestic discourse. But neither ideology can be an end itself."
"If India's foreign policy elite worried about an American "alliance entrapment", Washington was neuralgic about non-alignment."
In response to China and Pakistan's growing danger, which was exacerbated by US support for Pakistan and rapprochement with China, India explored a strategic alliance with the Soviet Union. India offered the Soviet Union a South Asian ally that might act as a counterbalance to Chinese and American influence.
At last, China became an adversary of the Soviet Union and India. The Sino - Soviet split originated in the early 1960s and was driven by ideological disagreements, Chinese status aspirations, Mao's personal aspirations to become the leader of the communist world, and border disputes in the Russian Far East, with a series of border clashes in 1969.
These converging interests drove negotiations for a formal treaty of friendship beginning in 1969, leading to the Indo - Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation in 1971. The treaty remained in effect until the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was replaced in 1993 by the Treaty of Indo - Russian Friendship and Cooperation, which did not include the security features of the Indo - Soviet treaty.
The "strongest and most durable" factor influencing ties between Russia and India is Defence cooperation. Despite India's efforts to diversify its armament imports and boost the indigenization of armament purchases, the relationship has persisted. Path dependence is evident in the close weapons relations, which include the need for Russian replacement parts, Indian operators' experience with Soviet and Russian military technology, and business interests for Russian and Indian defence enterprises working on collaborative projects. In the past, India's security greatly benefited from this weapons deal. India's military's growth and upkeep have been greatly aided by these arms purchases and transfers.
India was able to afford a sizable and well-armed military because Soviet and Russian weaponry was less expensive than that of the West. Attempts to acquire Western weapons or develop domestic weapons systems were met with disappointing outcomes, though more recent attempts to wean Russia off of its armaments have been more successful.
During the Cold War, Russia saw India from the prism of geopolitical competition with the USA. After the end of the Cold War, Russia is again looking at the relations with the prism of realism. Russia looks at India from a transactional perspective as a buyer. Thus from Russia's side, the relationship has always been based on its own interest.
According to Shyam Sharan, the nostalgia of Soviet era may be useful but it cannot drive the relations at present.
Relevance of NAM Today
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia's first foreign policy priorities were its ties with the United States and Western Europe, which led to a period of neglect for the Russia-India relationship.
Since the conclusion of the Cold War, Russia has attempted to forge stronger connections with both China and Pakistan while retaining its security ties to India, which has diminished its ability to act as a counterbalance against the threat posed by both countries. China, Russia, and India have developed a number of trilateral and multilateral institutions thanks to their shared interests in advancing a multipolar world order and countering American unipolarity. In the 2000s, two key multilateral forums - RIC (the Russia - India - China trilateral forum) and BRICS (Brazil - Russia - India - China - South Africa) - were formed with both Indian and Russian participation to advance multipolarity in the security and financial realms, respectively. A third forum, the SCO, was formed in the early 2000s without Indian participation but later expanded to include both India and Pakistan, alongside Russia, China, and the post-Soviet states of Central Asia.
Russia's and India's foreign policies are still shaped by their joint goal of building a multipolar world. This could provide a degree of continuity in the relationship. But Russia's credibility as a counterbalance to China is eroding, as is Pakistan's and India's mistrust of the United States. Although it did not start either of these trends, Russia's intervention in Ukraine has made them worse. Russia is moving in China's direction. It would be difficult for Russia to maintain its current security connections with India if it aligned itself with China due to its isolation from the US and Europe. Additionally, India may no longer need to retain these ties because the US may now be a trustworthy offshore balancer. Over the past few decades, US-Indian relations - including security ties - have greatly strengthened. Moreover, India is actively working to reduce its dependency on Russian weapons. Although this exists before the invasion of Ukraine, it might have been exacerbated by it.
India believes in in 'One Earth, One Family, One Future'
"As far as India is concerned, our engagement with the Global South is not just a matter of policy, it is ingrained in the very fabric of our culture and philosophy," Mrs. Ruchira Kamboj, Permanent Representative to the UN.
"The case for a 'Global South sensitive' model of globalization therefore becomes stronger by the day. In this regard, India stands for three fundamental shifts that can create a conducive environment."
"South-South cooperation must be as a parallel process to North-South Cooperation and SDGs can be met by joint efforts of both."
"India should avoid the temptation of building a bloc against the developed North. Instead, offer sustainable economic cooperation to the Global South through national, regional, and global institutions to further joint causes."
BRICS is a multilateral forum comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. BRICS was established as BRIC in 2009, in aftermath of Global Financial Crisis, with India, Russia, China and Brazil as founding members. Fareed Zakaria described the establishment of BRICS as the beginning of 'Post American world order'. It symbolized 'the decline of west and the rise of rest'. It also showed that the centre of gravity of international economy has shifted towards Asia Pacific.
"BRICS is no longer an 'alternative', it is an established feature of the global landscape" - S Jaishankar