India’s Foreign Policy between 1962 and 1991

After the disastrous debacle of 1962, India embarked on a substantial program of military modernization. The government committed itself to create a million man army with ten new mountain divisions equipped and trained for high altitude warfare, a 45 squadron air force with supersonic aircraft and a modest program of naval expansion.

After the demise of Nehru, the successive prime ministers could not formally abandon the NAM, but practically, they resumed a realist orientation. In 1965, there was again a conflict with Pakistan on Kashmir matter. This ended into a truce mediated by the USSR and immediately after peace, LB Shahstri demised in suspicious circumstances. In these years, US got more and more engaged in Vietnam War and thus focused itself away from South Asia. In 1966, the economic downturn in the country led to Johnson administration exert considerable economic pressure on India to devalue its currency. One more reason for this undue pressure from US was that India had denounced the Vietnam War.

In the 1960s, USSR had sensed the opportunity to expand its influence in Indian subcontinent. They brokered the peace agreement between India and Pakistan in Tashkent in 1966. Since US had disengaged itself from the subcontinent, China moved to China to balance Indian Power and its proximity to USSR.

In 1964, China conducted its first nuclear test at Lop Nor. This was a shocking concern for Indians and some leaders in the Parliament called for abandonment of the policy of Non-alignment. The need of the hour was to acquire independent nuclear weapons option.

Indira Gandhi tried in vain to seek a nuclear guarantee from the great powers. After this failure, she authorized India’s Subterranean Nuclear Explosions Project (SNEP). This project culminated in India’s first nuclear test at Pokharan, Rajasthan in May 1974. During the regime of Indira Gandhi, the foreign policy stance of India was as follows:

• Firstly, India kept supporting the cause of decolonization. For instance India was a staunch opponent of the apartheid regime in South Africa. India supported the Palestinian cause and opposed the presence of Portuguese in Angola and Mozambique.
• Secondly, India accepted the importance of defense preparedness. Gradually, India overcame its hesitation of using force in international politics.

When India faced inflow of several million refugees from East Pakistan due to the Civil War there, Indira Gandhi quickly forged a careful politico-diplomatic strategy to break up Pakistan.  This strategy involved a tacit security guarantee from USSR in case of any possible Chinese action against India in support of Pakistan. Thus, despite of India’s commitment to Non-alignment, we signed a 20 year pact of “peace, friendship and cooperation” with the Soviet Union in August 1971. Pakistani attack on India’s northern air bases in 1971 triggered the Indian attack in East Pakistan. Within two weeks, the Indian army along with an indigenous Bengali rebel movement, the “Mukti Vahini” militarily prevailed against the demoralized Pakistani forces. The result was a split in Pakistan and emergence of India as an undisputed dominant power in South Asia. This was the most important achievement in period II.

However, India was unable to use this military success to become a real super power in the region. The economy was anemic partly due to the state led Industrialization and partly due to India’s export pessimism. India could not develop its ties with the global economy and thus Indian economy kept marred by paucity of investment, license raj, corruption, technological lags, lack of innovation and poor entrepreneurship.

The economic weakness was made more sever by the global approbation to India’s test of its nuclear weapon in May 1974. India was slapped with significant economic and technological sanctions and India’s policymakers chose not carry out any further tests.

In summary, India’s influence was somewhat limited to the South Asian Region only. In 1979, Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and in its aftermath, US chose Pakistan to enter into strategic partnership. To oust USSR from Afghanistan, US relied heavily on Pakistan and Pakistan’s Zia Ul Haq was able to exact significant economic and military price from US. From 1979 onward, US promised two foreign assistance packages to Pakistan one worth USD 3.2 Billion for five years and another worth USD 4.02 Billion for another six years. However, the second one was not fully delivered because USSR withdrew from Afghanistan in 1990. Meanwhile the world could know about the clandestine nuclear programme of Pakistan and thus US imposed economic sanctions on it. From 1962 till 1991, barring few fronts, India remained insignificant from the global powers.