Anti-Colonialism as a Basic Indian Foreign Policy

• Author: Richard M. Fontera
• Date: 01 June 1960
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296001300209
• Published date: 01 June 1960
• Subject Matter: Articles

421

ANTI-COLONIALISM

AS

A

BASIC

INDIAN

FOREIGN

POLICY*

RICHARD M.

FONTERA

Muskingum

College

OME

RECENT

ATTEMPTS

have

been

made

to

investigate

the

roots

of

India’s

foreign

policy.

Frequently,

these

attempts

have been

based

on

an

equation

between

the

ideas

and

attitudes

of

Prime

Minister

Nehru

and

Indian

policy.

Jawaharlal

Nehru

is

certainly

both

the

leader

and

symbol

of

modern

India

and,

in

that

sense,

has

gained

a

position

strikingly

similar

to

that

enjoyed

by

Gandhi

prior

to

the

transfer

of

power

in

India.

Yet,

it

would

be

un-

fortunate

if

students

of

foreign

policy

were

to

overlook

the

fact

that

there

are

also

basic

considerations

that

have

come

to

limit

and

determine

a

good

deal

of

Indian

foreign

policy

decision-making.

By

reference

to

both

the

history

of

the

Indian

national

movement

and

some

recent

events

in

the

application

of

Indian

foreign

policy,

this

article

seeks

to

explain

and

elaborate

upon

the

title’s

asser-

tion

that

anti-colonialism

is

one

such

basic

consideration.

A

basic

policy

achieves

an

existence

independent

of

the

leaders

who

strive

to

work

with

it.

Its

roots

are

to

be

found

in

cultural

attitudes

and

chains

of

events,

rather

than

single

statements

by

individual

leaders

or

resolutions

passed

by

legislatures.

A

leader

who

negates

such

a

basic

policy,

without

careful

mani-

pulation

of

his

support,

faces

political

disaster.

The

ability

to

change

this

policy

depends

as

much

upon

outside

events

as

it

does

on

the

strength

of

the

position

of

the

leader(s).

Isolationism

is

an

example

in

the

American

historical

experi-

ence,

while

the

dangers

of

attempting

to

move

away

from

a

basic

policy

are

well

illustrated

by

Franklin

D.

Roosevelt’s

efforts

in

the

period

1937-40.

I

The

Indian

independence

movement,

as

it

sought

to

react

to

a

vast

number

of

British

administrative

decisions,

came

to

express

a

feeling

of

nationalism

that

sought

both

to

expel

foreign

rule

and

transform

the

particularism

of

Indian

soci-

ety.

The

meetings

of

the

Indian

National

Congress,

during

the

last

thirty

years

of

the

British

raj,

invariably

appealed

for

Indian

unity

in

the

face

of

the

common

enemy-’

In

hundreds

of

statements

and

articles,

leaders

like

Gandhi

attempted

to

bring

to

the

masses

of

India

a

new

sense

of

nationhood.

The

agreement

be-

This

article

is

based

on

research

conducted

while

at

New

York

University

and

owes

a

great

deal

to

the

supervision

and

suggestions

of

Professor

Waldo

Chamberlin

of

its

Department

of

Government.

Dr.

Hugh

Tinker

of

London

University’s

School

of

Oriental

and

African

Studies

was

also

kind

enough

to

suggest

certain

revisions

of

the

original

text,

but

the

respon,

sibility

for

all

the

views

expressed

are,

of

course,

the

author’s.

1

B.

P.

Sitaramayya,

The

History

of

the

Indian

National

Congress

(2

vols.;

Bombay:

Padma

Publications,

1935

&

1947).

This

official

history

of

the

Congress

contains

a

detailed

account

of

the

progress

of

the

independence

movement

and

includes

partial

and

complete

texts

of

a

great

number

of

the

resolutions

and

speeches

at

the

many

meetings

of

the

Congress.