Foreign Policy and Relations with other Countries

Bangladesh India’s relations with Bangladesh were specially cordial with Mujibur Rahman in power. However, Mujibur Rahman’s policies that were pro-India did not meet with approval of many in the political and military circles of Bangladesh as they feared Bangladesh would become some kind of satellite state to India. Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in 1975, following which came Islamist and military regimes. Indira Gandhi’s relations with these regimes was uncomfortable. But on the whole the relations between the two countries remained amicable.

Sri Lanka Indira Gandhi had cordial relations with her Sri Lankan counterpart, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, and was initially accommodative about the ethnic problem involving the Tamils in that island country.

In 1974, India ceded the tiny islet of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka in order to save Bandaranaike’s socialist government from a political disaster. In 1974, India ceded the small islet Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka through the Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime Agreement that was intended to settle the maritime boundary in the Palk Strait. Sirimavo’s popularity was rather low at the time, and Indira Gandhi decided to cede the island so as to improve the image of the Sri Lankan prime minister and to help stabilise the Bandranaike regime in Sri Lanka. The agreement, which did not specify fishing rights, allowed Indian fishermen to fish around Katchatheevu and to dry their nets on the island. However, in 1976, without consulting the Tamil Nadu assembly or Parliament Indira Gandhi’s government finalised another agreement to determine

the boundary in the Gulf of Mannar and Bay of Bengal and restricted both the countries’ fishermen from fishing in the other’s waters: “The fishing vessels and fishermen of India shall not engage in fishing in the historic waters, the territorial sea and the Exclusive Economic Zone of Sri Lanka, nor shall the fishing vessels and fishermen of Sri Lanka engage in fishing in the historic waters, the territorial sea and the Exclusive Economic Zone of India, without the express permission of Sri Lanka or India, as the case may be,” said the agreement.

Soviet Union Under Indira Gandhi, India’s relations with the Soviet Union deepened, especially in light of the attitudes of the US and China regarding Pakistan. The Treaty of Friendship with the USSR was a move to counter the Chinese closeness with Pakistan. When the US introduced a resolution in the UN Security Council calling for a cease- fire and the withdrawal of armed forces by India and Pakistan after Pakistan began the attack on the western front, the Soviet Union vetoed the resolution. Though the Soviet Union was not happy with India’s nuclear test of 1974, it did not support further action against India. Certainly, there was a tilt towards the Soviet Union for pragmatic reasons during the times of Indira Gandhi.

United States From the time Indira Gandhi came to power, the relations with the US were strained. When Lyndon Johnson was president and India was reliant on the US for food aid, Indira Gandhi resented aid with strings attached – that in return for food, India was expected to agree to the policies of the US. She was also firm about not signing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). After Nixon came to power in the US, relations deteriorated; Nixon disliked Indira Gandhi as well as the Indians and had a clear bias for Pakistan. Indira Gandhi expressed her criticism of the Vietnam war as well.

West Asia Indira Gandhi fully supported the Palestinians’ cause and against Israel. The pro-Arab stand had mixed results, especially after the war with Pakistan. While some of the Arab governments remained neutral (Egypt, Algeria, Syria, for instance), the conservative pro-American Arab monarchies in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and United Arab

Emirates supported Pakistan. Libya saw the Indian intervention in East Pakistan as an attack on Islam.

Ties with Iran floundered for a while in the wake of the Indo-Pak war, with Iran viewing India’s tilt towards Moscow and the break-up of Pakistan as part of a larger conspiracy against Iran involving India, Iraq, and the Soviet Union. However, Iran had not agreed to activate the Baghdad Pact and draw in the Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO) into the conflict at Pakistan’s instigation. By 1974, the relations had recovered enough for Iran and India to come to an agreement that led to Iran supplying a substantial amount of crude to India.

Asia-Pacific In 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was formed. In India’s view ASEAN was a pro-US organisation with links to the SEATO. The ASEAN countries were not happy about India’s stance over Vietnam and the close ties with Moscow. Nor did India’s nuclear test meet with their approval; they saw it as contributing to the tension in the region.

Africa India’s image as a vigorous opponent of colonialism suffered in African eyes because of the cordial relations India maintained with the Commonwealth of Nations. Initially, India condemned the armed struggle in Kenya and Algeria for independence. Under Indira Gandhi, relations began to be repaired. Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Libya – the countries that had supported India during the Sino-Indian War in 1962 got special attention after she came to power. Diplomatic and economic relations with these states were expanded. Unlike her father, Indira Gandhi openly supported the liberation struggles in Africa. India’s image too had improved in the world with the nuclear test and the refusal to be bullied by the US in the Indo-Pak war of 1971. Furthermore, Indira Gandhi firmly connected the Indian anti- imperialist interests in Africa and those of the Soviet Union. The experience of Indians in Uganda, however, was depressing: they suffered persecution in the Idi Amin regime and were eventually expelled from that nation.