Nehru’s role

Nehru’s role in shaping India’s external relations was foundational. As the first Prime Minister, he did not merely oversee foreign policy — he personally defined it. He also served as his own foreign minister, which gave him direct, uninterrupted control over both the formulation and execution of India’s international strategy from 1946 until his death in 1964.

The three major objectives Nehru set for India’s foreign policy were:

• Preserving hard-earned sovereignty — India had just won independence after a long struggle, and Nehru was determined that no external power would compromise that freedom.
• Protecting territorial integrity — The partition had left borders contested and fragile; safeguarding India’s territory was a non-negotiable priority.
• Promoting rapid economic development — A newly independent, poor country needed foreign policy to serve its developmental goals, not ideological crusades.

Nehru chose non-alignment as the strategy to achieve all three objectives. By staying away from the two Cold War blocs, India could protect its independence, avoid being dragged into superpower conflicts, and seek economic aid from both sides without political strings.

Not everyone agreed with Nehru’s approach. There were significant voices inside India that wanted a tilt toward the US-led bloc, because that bloc claimed to stand for democracy. Among those who argued for a pro-US orientation was Dr B. R. Ambedkar. Political parties opposed to communism — such as the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and later the Swatantra Party — also wanted India to align more closely with the United States. …