{"id":3579,"date":"2026-08-11T22:12:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/india-and-nam-different-phases\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T02:57:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:27:06","slug":"india-and-nam-different-phases","status":"publish","type":"psir_note","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/india-and-nam-different-phases\/","title":{"rendered":"India and NAM: different phases"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"n-wrap\">\n<div class=\"n-shell\">\n<div class=\"n-crumb\"><a href=\"\/psir\/psir-notes\/\">PSIR Notes<\/a><span class=\"sep\">\u203a<\/span><a href=\"\/psir\/psir-notes\/#ii-b\">II-B India and the World<\/a><span class=\"sep\">\u203a<\/span><span>India and NAM: different phases<\/span><\/div>\n<header class=\"n-head\">\n<div class=\"n-eyebrow\">Paper I \u00b7 India and the World<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"n-title\">India and NAM: different phases<\/h1>\n<div class=\"n-syl\"><b>Syllabus \u00b7 Paper II-B \u00b7 2<\/b> \u2014 India\u2019s Contribution to the Non-Alignment Movement Different phases; Current role.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"n-grid\">\n  <main class=\"n-body\"><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"why-india-chose-non-alignment\">Why India Chose Non-Alignment<\/h3>\n<p>The choice combined <span class=\"n-term\">idealism<\/span>, <span class=\"n-term\">realism<\/span>, <span class=\"n-term\">pragmatism<\/span> and a sense of <span class=\"n-term\">Indian exceptionalism<\/span>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Avoidance of military alliances<\/span> \u2192 national interest was best served by staying clear of Cold War blocs that could invite aggression; preference for collective security and international law.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Realism and security<\/span> \u2192 limited military capability meant that joining either bloc carried risk without adequate defence; non-alignment was a prudent guard for sovereignty.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Pragmatism<\/span> \u2192 <span class=\"n-sch\">Nehru<\/span> balanced principle against the need to protect national security and secure development.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Indian exceptionalism<\/span> \u2192 projecting a distinct civilizational identity and contributing to global peace through independence and diplomacy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Nehru \u2014 strategy, not dogma<\/span><\/p>\n<p>India should keep out of \u201cother people\u2019s quarrels\u201d unless \u201cour interest is involved\u201d; and \u2014 \u201cWe should either be strong enough to produce some effect or we should not interfere at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p><em>\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><cite>Jawaharlal Nehru<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">How scholars read the choice<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"n-tw\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Scholar<\/th>\n<th>Reading<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"n-sch\">Henry Kissinger<\/span><\/td>\n<td>India\u2019s non-alignment, though irritating for the United States, was the most appropriate course India could follow.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"n-sch\">Aparna Pandey<\/span><\/td>\n<td>Given India\u2019s limited military and economic strength, non-alignment was the best strategic option to assert influence and lead among decolonizing nations.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"n-sch\">K. Natwar Singh<\/span><\/td>\n<td>A coherent doctrine, not a rigid ideology; India retained independence and a voice on major issues.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"n-sch\">K. Subramanian<\/span><\/td>\n<td>A calculated move in realpolitik \u2014 aligning with neither bloc kept flexibility, strategic autonomy and the ability to shape events on India\u2019s own interest.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span class=\"n-sch\">J.N. Dixit<\/span><\/td>\n<td>The dissent \u2014 na\u00efve; Nehru did not grasp that India\u2019s idealism would not stop its neighbours from pursuing cynical realism.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Answer-frame \u2014 idealism and realism together<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">V.P. Dutt<\/span> \u2192 what appeared as India\u2019s idealism was in substance its pragmatism; morality served interest.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Realist core<\/span> \u2192 a materially weak India refused NATO and Warsaw Pact commitments to stay clear of conflicts serving no national purpose.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Economic pragmatism<\/span> \u2192 aid and technology drawn from both blocs \u2014 U.S. PL-480 food aid; Soviet steel plants and heavy industry, Bokaro after the American refusal.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Autonomy enabled mediation<\/span> \u2192 the Korean War ceasefire efforts show engagement without taking sides.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Bandung logic<\/span> \u2192 post-colonial states stayed out of the East\u2013West contest to concentrate on independence, poverty and development; non-alignment was a policy option, not equidistance.<\/li>\n<li>India\u2019s leadership earned it the label <span class=\"n-term\">\u201cTrade Union of the Third World\u201d<\/span> \u2192 a code of conduct for MNCs, protection of domestic producers, the earliest Indian move toward South\u2013South cooperation.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Realist critique<\/span> \u2192 <span class=\"n-sch\">Hans Morgenthau<\/span> saw neutrality as weakness in a world of power politics; the 1962 defeat exposed the limits of diplomacy against aggression.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-lab\">Assessment<\/span> \u2192 idealist in vocabulary, realist in function \u2014 and with a fresh US\u2013China rivalry unfolding, political space between great powers remains rational for developing states.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"n-pyq\"><span class=\"n-pyq-chip\">UPSC 2021 \u00b7 20m<\/span><span class=\"n-pyq-q\">\u201cNon-alignment was little more than a rational strategy on the part of a materially weak India to maximise its interests within a bipolar distribution of global power.\u201d Comment.<\/span><a class=\"n-pyq-a\" href=\"\/psir\/psir-pyq\/non-alignment-was-little-more-than-a-rational-strategy-on-the-upsc-psir-2021-4004\/\">Answer<\/a><\/div>\n<h3 id=\"india-s-role-contribution\">India\u2019s Role &amp; Contribution<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Maintaining NAM\u2019s integrity<\/span> \u2192 keeping the movement independent of any single member\u2019s agenda; upholding its relevance through the Camp David Accords and the fall of the Berlin Wall.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Support for newly liberated nations<\/span> \u2192 assistance to new states in Africa and Asia; opposition to external intervention; advocacy of the NIEO.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Against colonialism, imperialism and racialism<\/span> \u2192 NAM aided decolonization across Africa, Asia and the Middle East in the 1960s\u201370s, drawing on India\u2019s own freedom struggle; opposition to discrimination by skin colour.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Disarmament<\/span> \u2192 support for the Moscow Test Ban Treaty and concern at the discriminatory character of nuclear regimes; NAM declared the 1970s the <span class=\"n-term\">\u201cDecade of Disarmament\u201d<\/span> at the UN.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">NIEO<\/span> \u2192 economic independence alongside political freedom; self-reliance and cooperation among members.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Scholars on the contribution<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">C. Raja Mohan<\/span> \u2014 in <em>The Third World Beyond the Cold War: Continuity and Change<\/em>, acknowledges India\u2019s significant role in shaping NAM.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Sabyasachi Bhattacharya<\/span> \u2014 India contributed on three fronts: <span class=\"n-term\">ideological<\/span> (upholding non-alignment, advocating NIEO), <span class=\"n-term\">diplomatic<\/span> (building unity among diverse members) and <span class=\"n-term\">humanitarian<\/span> (peacekeeping and disarmament).<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Shyam Saran<\/span> \u2014 in <em>How India Sees the World<\/em>, holds that even as NAM\u2019s relevance for India narrowed, the principles of non-alignment still govern Indian foreign policy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Diplomatic weight<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Nehru<\/span>, with <span class=\"n-term\">Tito<\/span> and <span class=\"n-term\">Nasser<\/span>, was a principal architect of NAM\u2019s principles and objectives.<\/li>\n<li>Hosting summits \u2014 notably the <span class=\"n-term\">7th Summit at New Delhi (1983)<\/span>, which reasserted non-aligned roots.<\/li>\n<li>Active engagement raised India\u2019s international profile and reinforced an independent foreign policy.<\/li>\n<li>Post-Cold War critique \u2192 some ask \u201cnon-alignment with whom,\u201d calling NAM a relic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Non-alignment as identity, and as interest<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Non-alignment grew out of India\u2019s civilizational sense of itself and its non-violent freedom struggle \u2014 identity and interest, not imitation.<\/li>\n<li>Core idea \u2192 India\u2019s vital decisions should not be externally determined; national interest, not bloc loyalty, sets policy.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cGenius of the people\u201d \u2192 an ancient but resurgent India projecting peace, cooperation and anti-colonialism over confrontation.<\/li>\n<li>Interest served \u2192 aid and security from both blocs; Soviet reassurance against a Chinese threat and during the 1971 crisis, when Washington was seen as unreliable.<\/li>\n<li>The merger of smaller Afro-Asian states into NAM shifted its axis from East\u2013West tension to North\u2013South issues and the NIEO.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Answer-frame \u2014 normative ethos and soft power<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>NAM was the political expression of Afro-Asian and Latin American struggle against colonial and imperial power after the Second World War.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Normative ethos<\/span> \u2192 sovereignty, non-interference, anti-colonialism, anti-racism, disarmament, peaceful coexistence, equity.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Soft-power link<\/span> \u2192 leadership of NAM gave India moral standing and influence beyond its material capabilities.<\/li>\n<li>Post-Cold War shift \u2192 under-development, poverty, unfair trade, debt, and the democratization of international financial decision-making.<\/li>\n<li>Defence of cultural diversity and social peculiarities strengthened India\u2019s appeal as a voice of the Global South.<\/li>\n<li>Contemporary expressions \u2192 the <span class=\"n-term\">International Solar Alliance<\/span>, Yoga Day, and cooperation on climate, health and terrorism carry the same normative signature.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-lab\">Assessment<\/span> \u2192 the ethos remains an asset for India\u2019s soft power, provided convening power is converted into deliverable outcomes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"n-pyq\"><span class=\"n-pyq-chip\">UPSC 2016 \u00b7 10m<\/span><span class=\"n-pyq-q\">Comment on India\u2019s contribution to the Non-Aligned Movement and its contemporary relevance.<\/span><a class=\"n-pyq-a\" href=\"\/psir\/psir-pyq\/comment-on-indias-contribution-to-non-alignment-movement-and-upsc-psir-2016-4002\/\">Answer<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"n-pyq\"><span class=\"n-pyq-chip\">UPSC 2023 \u00b7 20m<\/span><span class=\"n-pyq-q\">The relevance of the normative ethos of the Non-Aligned Movement in magnifying India\u2019s soft power.<\/span><a class=\"n-pyq-a\" href=\"\/psir\/psir-pyq\/discuss-the-relevance-of-the-normative-ethos-of-the-non-aligned-upsc-psir-2023-3309\/\">Answer<\/a><\/div>\n<h3 id=\"phases-of-india-s-engagement\">Phases of India\u2019s Engagement<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Conviction \u2192 correction \u2192 calculation.<\/span> <span class=\"n-term\">Until 1962<\/span> (Early idealism \u2014 conviction, prestige, support drawn from both superpowers) \u2192 <span class=\"n-term\">1962\u20131990<\/span> (Realism &amp; strategic shift \u2014 Indo-Soviet Treaty, 1971; rhetoric stays, behaviour turns) \u2192 <span class=\"n-term\">1991 onward<\/span> (Strategic autonomy \u2014 pragmatism, multi-alignment)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Early idealism (until 1962)<\/span> \u2192 non-alignment pursued with conviction, drawing support from both superpowers and prominence among developing nations. <span class=\"n-sch\">Shashi Tharoor<\/span> notes it gave India diplomatic flexibility and influence out of proportion to its actual capabilities. The Sino-Indian war and difficulties at the UN then exposed practical limits and divergent interests.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Realism and strategic shift (1962\u20131990)<\/span> \u2192 a turn toward realism; the <span class=\"n-term\">Indo-Soviet Treaty of 1971<\/span> stressed mutual security and marked a departure from strict non-alignment. India grew critical of US policies read as neo-colonial, and Western observers began to treat NAM as anti-American.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Post-Cold War and strategic autonomy (1991 onward)<\/span> \u2192 a more pragmatic policy, expressed today as strategic autonomy and multi-alignment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p><em>After 1962 \u201cthe rhetoric of nonalignment remained,\u201d but behaviour \u201cassumed a more Realist orientation\u201d; and after 1991 a third phase of \u201cmore pragmatic foreign policy hewing closely to the principles of Realism.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><cite>Sumit Ganguly<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3 id=\"the-new-international-economic-order\">The New International Economic Order<\/h3>\n<p>Championed by India in the 1970s and proposed at <span class=\"n-term\">Algiers (1973)<\/span> \u2192 to address the poverty of developing countries and bridge the North\u2013South gap through fair trade, technology transfer and financial assistance.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Restructuring the economic order \u00b7 Control over natural resources \u00b7 Regulation of MNCs \u00b7 Producer associations on the OPEC model<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Main tenets<\/span> \u2192 total restructuring of the economic order; control over natural resources; regulation of MNCs operating in member territories; freedom to form producer associations like OPEC without economic or military resistance.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Aims<\/span> \u2192 challenge neo-imperialism and neo-colonialism, curb the negative role of MNCs, and rebuild world economic relations on self-reliance and equality.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Challenges<\/span> \u2192 stiff opposition from industrialized states, who held the existing system adequate; members\u2019 lack of economic and military power; the insecurity dilemma among post-colonial societies; divisions among developing states; and failure to use oil as an economic weapon.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-lab\">Outcome<\/span> \u2192 no significant economic justice achieved, but the North\u2013South question was established as central to world politics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"n-next\"><span><\/span><a class=\"r\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/india-and-nam-current-role\/\"><em>Next<\/em><b>India and NAM: current role<\/b><\/a><\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n<aside class=\"n-rail\">\n<h4>On this page<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"#why-india-chose-non-alignment\">Why India Chose Non-Alignment<\/a><a href=\"#india-s-role-contribution\">India\u2019s Role &amp; Contribution<\/a><a href=\"#phases-of-india-s-engagement\">Phases of India\u2019s Engagement<\/a><a href=\"#the-new-international-economic-order\">The New International Economic Order<\/a><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India and NAM: different phases for the UPSC PSIR optional \u2014 PSIR Notes \u203a II-B India and the World \u203a India and NAM: different phases Paper I \u00b7 India and the World India and NAM: di<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"fx_note_key":"II-B.2.1","fx_note_sec":"II-B","fx_note_point":"2","fx_note_desc":"India and NAM: different phases for the UPSC PSIR optional \u2014 PSIR Notes \u203a II-B India and the World \u203a India and NAM: different phases Paper I \u00b7 India and the World India and NAM: di","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3579","psir_note","type-psir_note","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/psir_note"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3802,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3579\/revisions\/3802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}