Foreign Policy

The Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, and the Indians were forced to rethink their foreign policy as there was no Cold War, and bloc politics now had no place in international relations. India’s relations with the US gradually improved. But India also tried to build up strong relations with other nations of the West as well as with japan, Israel, Brazil and South Africa. Post Cold War, India’s foreign policy became closely linked with its economic policy.

Rao launched the Look East policy in an attempt to bring India closer to ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations). The strategy involved the creation of close economic and commercial ties, bringing about an increased cooperation in strategic and security matters, and an emphasis on age old cultural and ideological connections between India and the region. The policy has over time served to strengthen India’s political, economic and cultural relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, besides helping India become an important part of the economic and security dynamics of the region. Significantly, the policy was taken up by governments that came after Narasimha Rao’s.

Rao’s overture to China, which he visited in 1993, and Iran were useful when Pakistan brought a resolution on India’s violation of human rights in Kashmir in the human rights body of the UN: China and Iran did not favour it.