Question

Explain with the help of any two examples from India that foreign policy is always dictated by ideas of national interest.

Answer 1

India has long pursued a policy of non-alignment. But sometimes, its ideas about what is best for the country have also shaped its foreign policy.

1. India and the USSR have always been friendly. India was the first country in the world to speak out against Britain’s neocolonial invasion of Egypt over the Suez Canal in 1956. Still, it didn’t say anything bad about the USSR’s attack on Hungary that same year.
2. India and the USSR signed a 20-year treaty of friendship in August 1971. It was done to counter the US-China-Pakistan alliance.