India’s External Relations

Science Book 2 Chapter 4

Foreign Policy
Every country establishes relations with other countries according to a particular
policy, this policy is called foreign policy of that country.
India also made a policy of making relations with all other countries, this is called
India’s foreign policy.

Two major elements of India’s foreign policy

Respect the sovereignty of all nations
(as it is clear from the word that sovereignty means to be sovereign of oneself, it
means that the rule of a country should be run according to its policies and no
other country or power should have any authority over it)
Maintaining one’s security through peace
Jawaharlal Nehru had a major role in India’s foreign policy, he was the one who
shaped India’s foreign policy and as he was always the been the supporter of
peace therefore India focused avoiding war and solving problems with peace.

The main elements of Nehru’s foreign policy were-

Maintaining territorial integrity
Maintaining sovereignty
Growing rapidly

Main principles of India ‘s foreign policy

Policy of non-alignment
As we know that India became independent at the time when the cold war was going on
in the world, in such a situation there was a danger of coming under any one
superpower. To avoid such situation, India followed the policy of non-alignment and
created a third world by making distance from both the superpowers.

Respect for democracy

India respected democracy from the very beginning therefore democracy was
established in India and was successful even after many problems.
Respect for human rights
Since independence, India has given human rights as fundamental rights to all its
citizens and also made efforts to establish human rights in other countries of the world.

Efforts for world peace

As we know that securing peace is the main element of Indian foreign policy, therefore
India actively participated in efforts to establish peace in different countries of the
world.

Opposition to imperialism and colonialism

India opposed imperialism and colonialism from the very beginning, because India
itself had become independent by fighting similar circumstances.
(imperialism or colonialism is called the situation when a country occupies a small
country and runs its own system of governance and exploits the resources in it)

Promote world peace and friendship

India has been striving to promote peace and friendship in the world from the very
beginning. India’s efforts for peace during the cold war is one of them. Along with this,
India always sent its army in the peace operations of UNO, which shows the
seriousness of India towards world peace.

Afro Asian Unity

At the time of India’s independence, many other countries in the world became independent
which were poor like India and were facing many other problems. In such a situation, Nehru
made efforts to increase the unity of Africa and Asia.

India organized the Asian relations conference in 1947 under the leadership of Nehru
Tried for independence of Indonesia
Protested against apartheid in south Africa
laid the foundation of NAM at the Bandung conference

All these facts show the active and positive role of India in international politics.

India and china

Panchsheel agreement (The Five Principals for Peaceful

Coexistence)
In 1954 Panchsheel agreement was signed between India and china.

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There were 5 principles in this agreement

Respect for each other’s integrity and sovereignty

Mutual non-aggression
Not to interfere in each other’s internal affairs
Equitable and mutually beneficial relationship
Peaceful coexistence

Tibet’s problem
Tibet is a small country located between India and china. China has been asserting its
authority over Tibet from the beginning, but India’s belief was just the opposite.
On 24 April 1954, India accepted china’s right over Tibet with some conditions and
china promised that Tibet would be given more autonomy but it did not happen.
An armed rebellion broke out against the chinese rule in Tibet. This rebellion was
suppressed by the chinese forces.
Seeing the situation deteriorating, Tibetan religious leader Dalai Lama sought shelter
from India in 1959 and came to Dharamshala.
China called this move interference in its internal affairs and strongly opposed this
move.

India and china border dispute

The border dispute between India and china was over Aksai chin in Jammu and
Kashmir and NEFA (North-East Frontier Agency) area of ​Arunachal Pradesh.
China expressed its right over these parts of India and India said that this matter has
been resolved at the time of British rule but China denied this.
Between 1957 and 1959, china occupied some parts of Aksai chin and started building
roads there.
A lot of discussions took place between the leaders of both the countries but the
problem could not be resolved. Many times, there were skirmishes between the armies
of both the countries but no solution was found.

Due to Panchsheel agreement and trust in china, Nehru never felt that china could attack
India, but this time Nehru was proved wrong and in 1962 china attacked India.

India and china war

China attacked India in 1962. Due to this sudden attack, India did not get any chance of
preparation and the chinese army came deep into India. In the end, a sudden ceasefire was
declared by china and India had to face defeat in this war.
Results of war
India lost
Indian foreign policy criticized
Many senior military commanders resigned
Defence minister VK Krishna Menon resigned from the cabinet
For the first time a no-confidence motion was brought against the government
The communist party of India was divided into two parts
Nehru’s image was damaged.

India and Russia

Relations between India and Russia have been good since the beginning.
Russia has been helping India from the very beginning.
Both dream of a multipolar world
Both countries believe in democracy
80 bilateral agreements were signed between India and Russia in 2001
India is biggest Russian arms buyer
India imports high amount of oil from Russia
Russia is helping India in many scientific projects
Russia’s always supported India on the Kashmir issue

India and America

The relations between America and India have been bad from the beginning due to the
closeness between India and the Soviet Union, but after the dissolution of the Soviet Union
in 1991, the relations between India and America improved and at present the relations
between India and America are quite good.

Relations between India and America

65 percent of Indian software exports to the US
35 percent of the employees of American company Boeing are Indians.
Over 3 lakh Indians work in silicon valley.
High contribution of Indians to American companies

Relations between India and Israel

India-Israel relations started in 1992
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited India in 2017
At the same time, Israel has been helping India on many occasions.

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 Cooperation between India and Israel
Israel is the second largest arms supplier to India after Russia.
There is cooperation between the two countries in the agriculture sector as well.
India has been helped by Israel to improve irrigation methods and productivity of
agriculture.
For water conservation, water sanitation plants have been built by Israel in
different areas of India.
Israel is one of the few major importers of India in the economic sphere.
Economic relations of both the countries are very good.
If seen in the health sector, India exported essential medicines to Israel during
the ongoing coronavirus.
Simultaneously, the export of other essential goods was also allowed.

India and Pakistan

There has been lot of problems in the relations between India and Pakistan since the post-
independence partition. Till date there have been 4 wars between India and Pakistan and
India has won in all the four wars

Reasons for war between India and Pakistan

Kashmir dispute
Border dispute
Support of terrorism by Pakistan
Pakistan’s promotion of separatism
River water sharing

Wars between India and Pakistan

1947 (Kashmir Dispute)
War started between India and Pakistan soon after independence
The reason for this war was Kashmir.
India won this war

1965 (River water division)

India’s problems did not end after the 1962 china war
In 1965, a war broke out between India and Pakistan over the problem of water
division.
In the end, India defeated Pakistan very comfortably.
The Tashkent agreement was signed in 1966 by the prime minister of India, Lal
Bahadur Shastri and the president of Pakistan, Ayub khan and agreed to settle
all disputes through negotiations.

1971 (Bangladesh)
1971 war started between India and Pakistan due to the problem of east Pakistan
The war ended with the victory of India, the independence of east Pakistan and
the creation of a new country, Bangladesh.

In 1972, the Shimla agreement was signed between prime minister Indira Gandhi of India
and president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Pakistan with the aim of resolving all disputes through
dialogue and maintaining peace.

1999 (Kargil War)

It was due to the deployment and infiltration of troops in the Kargil region by
Pakistan in 1999. Operation Vijay was launched by India to drive out the
infiltrators and in this 60-day long war, India completely destroyed the Pakistan
army.
In 1999, the Lahore agreement was signed between the two countries to maintain
stability and peace. It was signed by prime minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee
and prime minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif.

India and Nepal

Conflict
There have been differences between India and Nepal regarding trade in history.
India’s concern is also about the friendship between china and Nepal.
India considers the growing Maoist supporters in Nepal as a threat to itself.
India is also not happy with Nepal not taking action against anti-Indian elements.
Nepal feels that India interferes in their internal affairs.

Support
Cooperation in the field of science and business
There is an agreement of free movement between both the countries, according to
which any person can move from India to Nepal and Nepal to India without passport
and visa.
Nepal is being helped by India in many schemes.

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India and Bhutan
India and Bhutan have very good relations.
Bhutan drove the anti-Indian extremists from its region, which helped India.
India is helping Bhutan with projects like hydroelectric power.
India gives maximum grant for development in Bhutan.

India and Bangladesh

Conflict
Illegal entry of thousands of Bangladeshis into India
Ganga and Brahmaputra river water sharing
Non-export of natural gas by Bangladesh to India
Bangladesh’s support of anti-Indian Muslim jamaat
Do not give way to the Indian army to go to eastern India.

India and Sri Lanka

Conflict
Tamil status
In 1987, a peacekeeping force was sent by India, which the people of Sri Lanka
considered interference in internal affairs.

Support
There is a free trade agreement between the two countries.
Help by India during the tsunami in Sri Lanka.

Relations between India and Maldives

In 1988 some soldiers from Sri Lanka attacked Maldives.
Maldives asked India for help and India sent its army to help Maldives
Helped in the economic development of Maldives.
India’s support Maldives’ tourism and fishing industry

India and nuclear weapons

The process of manufacturing nuclear weapons in India started under the leadership of
Homi Jehangir Bhabha.
 Meanwhile, in 1968, the permanent members of the security council of the uno tried to
impose the nuclear non-proliferation treaty NPT (non-proliferation treaty) on world.
According to this treaty, only those countries can have nuclear weapons which have
tested them before 1968, except that no country can be given the status of a nuclear
state. India opposed this treaty by calling it discriminatory and did not sign it.
India conducted its first nuclear test in 1974 in Pokhran, Rajasthan, this test was
unsuccessful and after that India did its second nuclear test in 1998 at the same
place. This test was successful and India became a nuclear power country.

India’s nuclear policy

Use of nuclear weapons for safety.
Use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes.
India’s assurance not to use nuclear weapons first

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