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India’s External Relations
Nehru regarded conduct of foreign relations as an essential indicator of independence because it sets a country free to pursue its national interest The reasons for this statement are as given below :
(i) After the World War, there were two blocs led by US and Soviet Union. NATO and the Warsaw Pact came into existence. The countries who had joined these alliances could not go against the US or Soviet Union or other members of the alliances. The clauses of the alliances were binding on them.
(ii) India did not join any group or alliance. So India could follow an independent policy. For example, in 1956 when Britain attacked Egypt over the Suez Canal issue, India led the world protest against this neo-colonial invasion.
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(a) India’s Nuclear policy
(b) Consensus in foreign policy matters.
“Broadly, non-alignment means not tying yourself off with military blocs... It means trying to view things, as far as possible, not from the military point of view, though that has to come in sometimes, but independently, and trying to maintain friendly relations with all countries. ” —Jawaharlal Nehru
(a) Why does Nehru want to keep off military blocs ?
(b) Do you think that the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty violated the principle of non-alignment ? Give reasons for your answer.
(c) If there were no military blocs, do you think non-alignment would have been unnecessary ?
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