The evolution of India’s foreign policy – Part IV

Some of us who were born in 1940s did not feel the impact of India’s independence. We felt as if the political power was transferred from the British Empire to the Nehru-Gandhi dispensation. Jawaharlal Nehru was a democrat as long as he was the undisputed leader. Indira Gandhi had no such pretensions, she ruled over India as an empress. There was no input from outside the government. Slowly people felt alienated from the political class. The government did not really have the consent of the governed. Indira Gandhi was removed from power at the right time. India has lost 30 precious years. 1977 was the year India really got its freedom, not only from the British but also the Nehru-Gandhi Empire! The world watched the drama in dismay.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee represented India from March 26, 1977 till July 28, 1979 as its foreign minister. During his tenure India’s image started changing around the world. He visited China in 1979 to break the ice in the frozen relationship since 1962 Indo-China war. He even visited Pakistan to normalize the relations between the two countries. Prime Minister Morarji Desai and Foreign Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, both had an open mind to have good relations with the United States of America without any cost to Indo-Soviet relations. Besides politics, the Janata Government was far more open to trade and commerce with international community. George Fernandes a socialist and a minister in Janata Party however kicked IBM and Coca Cola out of the country.

Janata Party was formed by a spectrum of opposition parties under the guidance of Jayaprakash Narayan. These parties ranged from extreme socialists to hard-core conservatives. It was almost impossible to hold them together without the glue provided by highly regarded Jayaprakash Narayan. Janata Party collapsed in July 1979 and was replaced by an ambitious Chaudhary Charan Singh as Prime Minister. Charan Singh was sworn in on July 28, 1979 and lasted for full 5 months till January 14, 1980. He was the ‘Trojan Horse’ planted by Indira Gandhi herself to destroy the Janata Party and she succeeded! This guy was a piece of work; his only ambition was to become the Prime Minister of India even if it was for just one day. Thank God!

Prime Minister Charan Singh was not in office long enough to have any major impact on India’s foreign policy. He never faced the Lok Sabha as a Prime Minister. Charan Singh opposed Nehru’s socialism and favored small farms to replace large land holdings. He was the major force behind Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act that ended the power of feudal land-lords. Charan Singh was a hawk on India’s relations with Pakistan and its nuclear ambitions. He also supported diplomatic relations with Israel and initiated some high level contacts through his Minister for Foreign Affairs Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra. Charan Singh did not believe in pandering to the Muslim vote bank. He had enough support of the Indian farm lobby. He was forced to call for fresh elections and Indira Gandhi came back to power with a landslide majority. She took back the office on January 15, 1980.