India's External Relations — Class 12 Political Science

India became independent amid the Cold War, when the world was dividing into US-led and Soviet-led blocs. Its foreign policy, shaped largely by Prime Minister Nehru (who was also his own foreign minister from 1946 to 1964), aimed to preserve sovereignty, protect territorial integrity and promote rapid economic development, pursued through non-alignment — keeping away from both military blocs while taking independent stands and accepting aid from both. Nehru championed Afro-Asian unity, convening the Asian Relations Conference (1947), supporting decolonisation and apartheid struggles, and co-founding the Non-Aligned Movement after the 1955 Bandung Conference. Relations with China began on a friendly note with the Panchsheel agreement (1954), but China's annexation of Tibet, the Dalai Lama's asylum in India (1959) and a boundary dispute over Aksai Chin and the eastern sector led to the 1962 war, which dented India's image and Nehru's stature. India fought Pakistan in 1965 (ending with the Tashkent Agreement) and in 1971 over Bangladesh, after signing a Treaty of Peace and Friendship with the USSR; the decisive victory led to the Shimla Agreement (1972). India's nuclear policy, begun under Bhabha for peaceful purposes, led to the first test in 1974; India refused to sign the discriminatory NPT and CTBT and tested again in 1998.