What is meant by Non-alignment?
(i) It meant that the poor and often very small countries of the world need not become followers of any of the big powers, that they could pursue an independent foreign policy.
(ii) It was also based on a resolve to democratize the international system by thinking about an alternate world order to redress existing inequalities.
“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 ?
Mock Test Series
