Non Alignment 1.0

India after independence, was presented as an ancient but resurgent India, full of enthusiasm and idealism talking in the larger perspective of history and looking forward to the future of mankind. India propagated her passion for peace and cooperation rather than war or confrontation and Policy of Non Alignment and anticolonism.

• The phrase “non-aligned” was first used by V K Krishna Menon at the United Nations General Assembly in 1953 and by Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1956.
• But as early as in late 1940s, Nehru had spelt out the strategy behind the phrase, first in Constituent Assembly debates and later in Parliament.
• In a radio broadcast in 1946, Nehru said, “We shall take full part in international conferences as a free nation with our own policy and not merely as a satellite of another nation.”

The core idea was that, the very sense of India, with its history and civilisation attributes, demands the pursuit of an independent foreign policy. Decisions relating to India’s vital interests should not be externally determined. Maintaining and, if possible, expanding the country’s strategic autonomy is a continuing objective.

Via Nonalignment, Nehru proposed that India should avoid entering into “other people’s quarrels“, unless, and this is important and “our interest is involved”. Nehru once said that “We should either be strong enough to produce some effect or we should not interfere at all“, which demonstrates a realistic awareness of the limits of India’s ability to influence events. Nehru also did not rule out entering into an alliance if that proved necessary: “We are not going to join a war if we can help it: we are going to join the side which is to our interest when the time comes to make the choice.”

Non Alignment 2.0

Non-alignment 2.0 is a policy suggestion presented by Indian scholars. The document was presented in 2012 and it suggests India take advantage of the opportunities India enjoys in the international sphere. To identify the challenges and threats it is likely to confront; and to define the broad perspective and approach that India should adopt as it works to enhance its strategic autonomy in global circumstances. The purpose of strategic autonomy is that India will get more time and options for its internal developments. We can put the present foreign policy of India in the words of Mr. Vijay Gokhale, former foreign secretary as ‘issue-based alignment’, rather than non-alignment.

• India’s enhanced economic and security capabilities enable it to influence external events and outcomes in a widening orbit compared to the Cold War years. India enjoys greater leverage but bears greater responsibility in dealing with regional issues such as South Asian and East Asian economic integration and global issues such as climate change and energy security.
• Furthermore, in a globalises world, external issues impact our economic and social development prospects while domestic choices we make as a country, in turn, have an impact on the external environment. Promotion of India’s interests demands far greater engagement with the world than ever before.
• Depending on the issue at hand, India will find itself working with shifting and variable coalitions rather than through settled alliances or groupings.
• The country has inherent assets, such as a favourable demography, a strategic location and a culture of creativity and innovation, which create a window of opportunity to drive India’s emergence as a front-ranking power, a master of its own destiny but generating a range of public goods that make the world a better and safer place to live in.