4. Non-Alignment

When India became independent in 1947, the world was divided into two blocs on ideological basis, namely, the capitalist bloc headed by USA and the communist bloc headed by the former USSR. In such a situation of 'cold war’, India refused to join any of these two blocs and adopted a policy of non-alignment. In this context, Jawaharlal Nehru observed: "We propose to keep away from the power politics of groups, aligned against one another, which have led in the past to world wars and which may again lead to disasters on an even vaster scale. I feel that India can play a big part, and perhaps an effective part, in helping to avoid war. Therefore, it becomes all the more necessary that India should not be lined up with any group of power which for various reasons are full of fear of war and prepare for war”.

"When we say that India follows a policy of non-alignment, it means (i) that India has no military alliances with countries of either bloc or indeed with any nation; (ii) India has an independent approach to foreign policy; and (iii) India attempts to maintain friendly relations with all countries”3 .