Author:
Publication: The Statesman
Date: June 3, 2004
The fear that Natwar Singh's ideas
about foreign policy are driven not by realism but by idee fixes derived
from the Nehru era is reinforced by reports that he is making external
affairs babus turn into Nehru swots, asking them to bone up on his "classical"
foreign policy. Nehruvian foreign policy had its good and bad points, and
the world has moved on considerably since Nehru's heyday; there is little
point in doing to him what Marxists do to Das Kapital. Nehru had a keen
sense of how domestic policy meshed with foreign policy where he was very
active. That is unexceptionable, but the domestic policy Nehru pursued
comprised economic autarky, the public sector occupying the "commanding
heights" of the economy, and licence raj. A foreign policy stressing Left-leaning
non-alignment would be consistent with this, but out of touch with globalisation
in the 21st century, not to mention the battle against international terror.
Before reverence about a supposed
"golden era" of foreign policy under Nehru takes hold in the new dispensation,
it is necessary to enumerate some of its disasters. Nehru halted the advance
of Indian troops into Jammu and Kashmir in 1948, under the advice of Lord
Mountbatten (so much for the "independence" of his foreign policy). That,
together with calling in the UN, allowed Pakistan to retain its segment
of Kashmir and entertain hopes of gaining the remainder. In 1971 Nehru's
daughter had a golden opportunity of resolving the Kashmir dispute, when
we had captured Pakistani territory as well as 93,000 soldiers, and could
have exchanged them for acknowledgement by Islamabad of the L0C as international
border. We, however, gave them up for nothing, and Kashmir has been a festering
sore in India's side for over half a century. Similar illusions about China
led to lack of defence preparedness as well as lack of allies who could
have helped when China invaded in 1962. If, for sentimental pan-Asian reasons,
we place all our eggs in the Chinese basket once again, Beijing, currently
engaged in aggressive muscle-flexing over Taiwan, will read such signals
as appeasement and not hesitate to take advantage.
Nehru's prominence in international
affairs depended on a certain moral aura that India came to acquire during
its non-violent independence movement. This aura has long since faded -
Nehru found that out as early as 1962 - and no exertions of Natwar Singh
and his compatriots can possibly bring it back. It is indispensable that
Delhi adjust to give-and-take in contemporary international affairs, and
incorporate a rather large dose of realism in its foreign policy.
