India's Foreign Policy: Retrospect and Prospect

Prime Minister Gandhi (1966)

- Allowed for India to begin their testing on the first of nuclear weapons (India's Subterranean Nuclear Explosions Project SNEP) May 1974 - Shift in India's Foreign Policy: "sustain two competing visions of world order" and "supported cause of decolonization" for other states with weaker political systems - India began to realize the importance of military buildup and using force in international political platforms - India's economic problems as a whole prevented the nation from ever developing its nuclear program, since its first successful nuclear test - India was forced to align themselves with the Soviet Union, until some forms of negotiations took place between the United States (Reagan) and India so that India would be less dependent on Soviet aid to survive

Global Powers (U.S. and USSR) views of India's Foreign Policy

- Both the Soviet Union and the United States had no interest in India, due to the ongoing tensions that had occurred during the Cold War - United States did not express no interest in India, "few cultural, strategic, or economic links with the nascent nation". - Soviet Union did not express interest in India, in a way benefited India in the distribution of power in the region - United States 1962, started to remove its involvement in South Asia after the 2nd Indo-Pakistani conflict of 1965, United States was more focused on Vietnam - Soviet Union negotiated an agreement between India and Pakistan in 1966, to spread its influence in the region

India's Role: Regional Platform

- Brought the issue of the Kashmir dispute with neighboring Pakistan to the United Nations, in an attempt to draft a peace agreement - Policymakers in India were not satisfied with the territorial agreements that were made by the United Nations, to resolve the issue with Pakistan - Seemed that the foreign policy goals from India's standpoint evolved around their participation with the United Nations, trying to solve the regional problem

Prime Minister Nehru

- Closely associated the United States with the upper class of the British, during Britain's rule in India - Had mixed feelings and contentions of the Soviet Union, personally did not like "Stalin's collectivist enterprise" but admired the industrialization program Nehru and Non-Alignment Policy: - Discussing the issue evolving around military spending, that the money would be focused on military buildup redirecting away from economic development in the country - India was already facing a lack of economic development due to the resources that it had - Wanted to maintain the independence movement of the country, not willing to risk the freedoms of the people

Modified Structuralism: the post-Nehru Era

- Final months in office, Nehru sought to change India's foreign policy and rethinking of the security practices and military defense spending for the country - "Military modernization" program for India helped to "creation of million man army with new mountain divisions equipped and trained for high altitude warfare, a 45 squadron air force with supersonic aircraft and a modest program of naval expansion" - India faced large economic pressure from the United States to stop the criticism of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, reform agricultural practices, and open up for foreign investments - Pakistan negotiated with China to come to an agreement regarding security concerns and power against India - Policymakers in India were calling for India to end its foreign policy of Non-alignment and seeking nuclear weapons, as the threat of the Chinese had risen

India's Role: Global Platform

- India sought to act as a peace negotiator in trying to de-intensified the Cold War tensions - Helped to draft the nuclear test ban treaty and 1952 introduced measures along with Ireland to call for a ban on global nuclear tests - Involved in the International Control Commission in Vietnam along with two other countries: Canada and Poland - Member of Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission, located in Korea - Supplied a significant large portion of United Nations Peacekeeping troops to the Belgian Congo

Economic Problems- India

- India's economic development was low because of its foreign policy and the attitude of a underdeveloping economy, not being in the global markets - "failure to develop ties with the global economy contributed to a paucity of foreign investment, important technological lags, a lack of innovation and stifling of entrepreneurship" - India decided to be aligned with "Group 77", developing nations wanting to change the way the global economic markets work - India's economic problems as a whole prevented the nation from ever developing its nuclear program, since its first successful nuclear test

Sources of India's Foreign Policy Development

- Many of the policymakers in India chose to ignore the constraints and pursued the country towards a "ideational foreign policy" - India was left unprepared security wise, during the border clash in the Sino-Indian war of 1962 between China - Presence of China acted as a security threat to India, and a new foreign policy for India was discussed with attention on the security threat issue from China

Development of India's Foreign Policy

- Phase One: India's foreign policy evolved around it's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru - Phase Two: India's defeat in 1962 during the Sino-Indian war, shift in the country's foreign policy to a "self-help" approach with Nehru's elements - Phase Three: Towards the ending of the Cold War, India began to adopt a foreign policy based on "principles of Realism" - India wanted to maintain the independence that it had received earlier from the British, and dealing with the issue of its foreign policy - Many citizens in the country expressed their concerns with the country's foreign policy too, development of anti-imperialist views forced the country to join the "non-alignment" - India was constantly arguing with the issue of bringing decolonization, and part of the greater issue in the Non-Aligned movement

Pathway to 1962: India's Global Involvement

- Played a large role in "multilateral institutions" mainly with their role in the peacekeeping operations with the United Nations - Representative country of the Non-Aligned movement, and moving towards the goal of "decolonization" for the Third World countries

1971 War: India

- Signed 20 year pact of "peace, friendship, and cooperation" with the Soviet Union on August 1971 -Pakistan launched an attack on the northern air bases of India on December, after launching attack on eastern front of India - India with the help of the Bengali rebel movement "mukti bahini" helped to defeat the Pakistani forces - Aftermath of 1971 war: Breakup of Pakistan led to Bangladesh being a new country, but most importantly India became a new power in the region

Enter the Bear (United States involvement in the region)

- United States continued to exclude their attention towards India, instead focused on a "strategic friendship" with Pakistan after Soviet invasion - United States support of General Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan - "United States provided two packages of foreign assistance the first for five years of $ 3.2 billion and the second for six years of $ 4,02 billion) - Second package was not received by Pakistan because of Soviet troop withdrawals from Afghanistan in 1990, and U.S. economic sanctions against Pakistan for wanting to develop a nuclear arms program - India was forced to align themselves with the Soviet Union, until some forms of negotiations took place between the United States (Reagan) and India so that India would be less dependent on Soviet aid to survive

China (PRC) Attacks India

-October 1962 attacked India with large amounts of force, India's military was not prepared for the attack and was humiliated - Many Indian forces withdrew and left areas they had occupied earlier - China tested a nuclear weapon in 1964, Lop Nor

India's Role: National Platform

Main key in the Non-Aligned Movement was decreasing the spending of military expenditures for the country - India limited their spending of military expenditures, which lead to even more of a credible security threat at the borders between China - Negotiations in 1960 with China were coming to an end, India shifted to a new "strategy of compellence designed to restore what it deemed to be the territorial status quo along the disputed Himalayan border"