Since the days of thinkers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy Indian leaders pursued a broad international outlook. Like Ram Mohan Roy who had positively responded to international events the Indian National Congress leaders too had evolved the practice of assessing and responding to international events. Over the years they evolved a policy of opposition to imperialism on a world wide scale and unity and solidarity with anti-colonial movements in other parts of the world.
Consistent with humane and outward looking thinking on issues the nationalist leaders tried to campaign that Indians should hate British imperialism but not British people. Consequently, they got support from a large number of Englishmen, women and political groups. Nehru even maintained that there was much truth in the British claim that Britain had brought to India western conceptions of parliamentary democracy and personal liberties and by transforming India into a single unitary state it had established among Indians a sense of political unity.
Besides, Nehru pointed out that the British were responsible for having first opened India’s window to the west and brought her in contact with one aspect of western industrialism and science i.e., railway, telegraph wireless etc., C. Sankaran Nair in his Presidential Address of 1897 even argued that the British had brought a secular rule to a multi-religious society like India.
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So despite the fact that the British themselves brought racism into practice in late 19th century the Indian national movement’s leaders rose above racist outlook to argue for a genuine non-racist internationalism. Subsequently, the Indian foreign policy in the post Independence period was to carry this legacy forward. Nehru put it succinctly that India was a non-aligned nation in the post-Independence period and followed a temper of peace and friendship with all countries.
This basically meant friendly co-operation but did not mean that when necessary positions would not be taken. As India has demonstrated in the case of South Africa India could and did take an anti-racism position and vocally spoke against apartheid in South Africa. Similarly Palestine Liberation Organisation was supported in its bid to create a homeland.
Thus India in spite of being non-aligned continued to articulate positive positions on international issues in keeping with the legacy of the national movement. As C.R. Das had pointed out that nationalism was a process through which a nation expressed itself and found itself not in isolation from other nations, not in opposition to other nations, but as a part of a great scheme by which in seeking its own expression and therefore its own identity it materially assists the self- expression and self-realisation of other nations as well.
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One may say that the Indian foreign policy by and large has kept up with this spirit in post-independence period. Though constrained to fight three major wars, one with China and two with Pakistan, the five principles of Peace i.e., Panchsheel have remained the bedrock of India’s foreign policy.
Looking at these five principles viz. (1) mutual respect for each other’s territorial Integrity and sovereignty, (2) mutual non- aggression, (3) mutual non-interference in each other’s affairs, (4) equality and mutual benefit, (5) peaceful coexistence we can say Indian foreign policy has indeed consolidated the legacy of the national movement.