The evolution of India’s foreign policy – Part II

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s departure brought significant changes in India’s foreign policy as well as its national security. Lal Bahadur Shastri became the Prime Minister of India on June 9, 1964 when Jawaharlal Nehru died in office on May 27, 1964. Congress Party President K Kamaraj was instrumental in making Shastri the Prime Minister as he wanted to keep the more conservative Morarji Desai from becoming the next Prime Minister of India. Shastri was a self proclaimed socialist but his policies were far more pragmatic then his predecessor’s. Shastri’s legacy is the slogan, “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”, simply put, food self-sufficiency and national security. India would always remain indebted to this modest man who gave so much to his country without the self-promotion like Nehru-Gandhi cabal. We were so proud of Shastriji!

Lal Bahadur Shastri was the Prime Minister and a de facto Foreign Minister of India for only 19 months but his tenure became significant in terms of India’s foreign policy. The 22 days war with Pakistan in September 1965 and a simultaneous naked threat from China convinced Shastri and a peaceful democratic India that our neighbors have nothing to keep them united except to wage wars to divert domestic attention. India had no choice but to postpone national development and share scarce financial resources with national security needs. Shastriji had no hesitation in calling a spade a spade and build a national consensus for India’s defense buildup. The second factor was the advent of ‘Green Revolution’ and the ‘White Revolution’ in India. Prime Minister Shastri changed a starving India into self-sufficient and proud nation!

Prime Minister Shastri suddenly died of a heart-attack in Tashkent on January 11, 1966. He was attending a peace summit with Pakistani President Muhammad Ayub Khan and had signed the Tashkent Declaration the day before. The Indo-Pak accord was facilitated by the erstwhile Soviet Union. Once again Gulzarilal Nanda took over as an interim Prime Minister for 13 days. Once again Kamaraj stiffed Morarji Desai and manipulated the election of Indira Gandhi as technically the 5th Prime Minister of India on January 24, 1966. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi continued with Sardar Swaran Singh as her Minister for External Affairs but replaced him with Mahommedali Currim Chagla on November 14, 1966. The whole gang of Mrs Gandhi was self-proclaimed socialist and leaned towards the Communist Block of countries.

Indira Gandhi was a chip of the old block in terms of her politics. Just like her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, She did not trust the private sector in India. She nationalized the banks of India in July 1969. She felt comfortable dealing with the former Soviet Union but distrusted the United States of America, especially President Richard Nixon. They disliked each other from the bottom their hearts. Indo-US relations nose-dived to the lowest level in the entire history of independent India. Nixon seriously contemplated using a nuclear bomb against India, a fellow democracy during Indo-Pak war in 1971! Indira Gandhi was ideologically close to her socialist father but was the toughest Prime Minister when it came to India’s national security. She crushed Pakistan.

Dr. Manmohan Singh has accepted all the applause…

Dr. Manmohan Singh, the current Prime Minister of India, is credited with the economic reforms initiated by him in 1991 as Finance Minister under former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. If he was the primary reformer then, what happened to him and his reforms once he himself became the Prime Minister on May 22, 2004? Manmohan Singh, and his United Progressive Alliance (UPA), is at a standstill since he took over as the Prime Minister of India. We must address this dilemma.

The fact of the matter is that it was Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao who facilitated the ‘Economic Reforms’ of 1991 by appointing a non-political economist, Dr Manmohan Singh, as the Finance Minister of India. Not only did Narasimha Rao appoint Dr Singh as the finance minister, but he also provided Manmohan Singh the political cover necessary to carry forward the reforms and actually got them through the Indian Parliament. Dr Singh must share the applause with Narasimha Rao.

Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao was the tenth Prime Minister of the Republic of India. He was born on June 28, 1921 in Karimnagar District of Andhra Pradesh. Rao joined the ‘Indian Freedom Movement’ as a member of the erstwhile Indian National Congress. He was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh between 1971 and 1973. Narasimha Rao sided with Indira Gandhi when Congress split in 1969. He served Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as her Home Minister, Defence Minister and the Foreign Minister during 1980-1984. He also served her son, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in similar positions. He was contemptuously referred to as a political ‘Dandy’ during those days, because of his polite demeanor.

Fate intervened in 1991when Congress President Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated and Narasimha Rao was catapulted to the Prime Minister’s position. He led a minority government from June 21, 1991 till May 16, 1996. He led one of the most important administrations in India’s modern history, overseeing a major economic transformation and a political consensus. Besides being called the “Father of the Economic Reforms” he was also referred to as the “Chanakya” of modern India.