The year was 1964 There were many new challenges for India's Foreign Policy This year, Prime Minister Nehru, who has been looking after India's foreign policy for the last 16 years, dies and this year, the USA gets actively involved in the Vietnam war In 1964, there was a change in leadership; Leonid Brezhnev suceeded Nikita Khrushchev, This year China becomes the world's fifth nuclear power by conducting a nuclear test and finally this year India gets its second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri Although he worked on foreign policy for 18 months only. But still, he brought more realism than ever before in India's foreign policy But it was not that easy. Prime Minister Shastri had to face many challenges. For instance; after the 1962 war, India-China relations deteriorated at such a level. It seemed like China was raining fire on India. Moreover, during these years, USA increased record-breaking funding to Pakistan. Not only this, but we also witnessed rising of the Anti-India coalition, namely Pindi-Peking-Jakarta Axis. Pindi means Rawalpindi, the then capital of Pakistan. and Peking is another name of Beijing, which is the capital of China and Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia, All three were called Anti-India Coalition. Although Indonesia was the founding father of Non-Alignment Movement at the time of Prime Minister Nehru. But he had joined hands with China and Pakistan by switching side. and Prime Minister Shastri knew all this. All troubles came together for PM Shastri. There were food shortages in India. You must be thinking, this is too much for PM Shastri to handle. let's understand what changes did Prime Minister Shastri make in foreign policy to deal with these challenges. We see a discontinuity in PM Shastri's Foreign Policy. First of all, we First, we observe that he focused on the immediate neighbourhood i.e. he focused more on neighbour countries and less on international events, with this his focus was more on bilateralism and not on regionalism because Prime Minister Nehru focused on making India a regional power. To represent India as the leader of Asia for the other countries, but this But this was not the focus of Prime Minister Shastri ji, the second big change we see is that he increases India's defense budget and this was the biggest increase in the defense budget after India's independence. Because you have seen what kind of conditions were there, it was considered right to increase the defense budget on that time. also, PM Shastri kept the option of nuclear weapons open, which meant that India would keep making efforts to make nuclear weapons. This was also the first time it was seen that the Prime Minister of India was publicly condoning, when US attacked Vietnam. The most significant event during PM Shastri's time period was the 1965 War between India and Pakistan. Skirmishes took place between soldiers of India and Pakistan in April 1965 and this happened in Kanjarkot Fort in the Run of Kutch region, this time Pakistan started claiming some area of Run of Kutch along with Kashmir, Pakistan was doing all this also because it felt that India was in a weak position after losing to China in the 1962 war. And if Pakistan attacks at this time, it may be able to capture some territory of India, Seeing this, Pakistan launches Operation Gibraltar, in this operation on 5 August 1965, Pak soldiers crossed Ceasefire Line and came to Kashmir, not in uniform but in plain clothes thier intention was to mingle with Kashmiri locals to incite them against the Indian government, but this operation did not go successful because Kashmiri locals informed Indian government about crossing of Pakistan soldiers. As soon as Pakistan witnessed the failure of this operation, another operation Grand Slam was launched on September 1, 1965 The aim of the operation was to capture the Akhnoor region of Jammu. Both operations of Pakistan got fail Because Indian soldiers fought very strongly with Pakistan and on the other hand, farmers were also working very hard to meet the shortage of food grains in India and this was the time when PM Shastri raised the slogans of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan at Urwa in Allahabad The two slogans if you will raise, then these slogans will be the real slogans according to country's need One is Jai Jawan and the second is Jai Kisan. If we talk about the result of the 1965 war, then the result of the war remains inconclusive. It becomes a matter of discussion that who won the war India or Pakistan, although both the countries suffer huge losses in this war, but Pakistan's operation to capture Kashmir falls short, Time magazine in its special edition of that time declared, " Now it's apparent to everybody that India is going to emerge as an Asian power in its own right" Prime Minister Shastri was considered a national hero in the country because whatever the result of the war might be but he remained successful in stopping Pakistan from capturing Kashmir. nor did he allow any Pakistan's incited rebellions to spread in Kashmir, let us now know which major agreements Let's learn about the major agreements that were signed during PM Shastri's tenure. The first agreement is Srima-Shastri Pact of 1964 This was signed between PM Shastri and the PM of Sri Lanka Sirimavo Bandaranaike. This pact is also known as the Srima-Shastri or Bandaranaike Pact. This pact was signed to resolve the status or issue of Indian Tamils living in Sri Lanks Here India agreed to take back 525000 people of Indian origin in Lanka And on the other side, Sri Lanka will grant citizenship to 3 lakh Tamils living in Sri Lanks Second and last significant agreement was Tashkent Agreement of 1965 Soviet Union premier Kosygin invited PM Lal Bahadur Shastri and Pakistan's President Ayub Khan, to Tashkent, Uzbekistan to find a solution to the ongoing war. The Tashkent Agreement was signed on – 10th January 1966. With this agreement 1965 war also ended. Both parties agreed to withdraw all armed forces to the positions held before 5th August, 1965. As a result, India and Pakistan had to give away the territories captured by their respective armies during the war. No new claim can be made on any kind of territory, It also remains a mystery that it had been 12 hours since the signing of the agreement that PM Lal Bahadur Shastri died in Tashkent. Even today many questions are asked about this death, some people say that it is not a natural death, it is a murder, but what happened then is still a mystery. After the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri, India gets its first woman prime minister, who turned the tables for India's foreign policy We observe many changes in India's foreign policy during her first tenure as PM Many Experts say that changes Indira Gandhi brought in foreign policy We get to see pragmatism and realism in it, that is, foreign policy becomes very practical and the idealism which was there during Nehru's time remained negligible. Like Lal Bahadur Shastri, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi also faced many challenges. First, India was facing drought on that time. Because of this drought, there were huge food shortages. Due to this, there was a rise in famine. The scarcity of food grains was at such level that India had to import food grains from USA to meet its demand. To tackle this, PM Indira Gandhi made her first state visit to Washington in March 1966. Where she asked for US cooperation to improve agricultural conditions and to make Green revolution a reality in India Talking about functionalism, it had increased so much in 1969 that Indira Gandhi was thrown out of her own party, however, in the 1971 election, Indira Gandhi strengthened her position even more by winning the election, this is the same election in which she raised 'remove poverty' slogan This was the domestic challenges for PM Indira Gandhi. But there were also international developments that was taking place at fast pace. between USA and USSR, the detente period was going on. Which means a peaceful time during cold war. Taking advantage of this peaceful time, the discussion on bringing NPT treaty started taking place This NPT treaty was initiated by 5 countries USA, UK, France, USSR and China On the other side, The international world order was still largely bipolar This means there was a divide between the USA and the USSR, but the stakes in South Asia was changing drastically in 1971. What was happening then? The then US President’s National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger organized a round of secret meetings between USA and China in Beijing. the result of these secret meetings Nixon Mao Pact, which was signed in 1972, and Because of this pack, USA established relations with China for the first time and now guess, who made this meeting possible, who made this possible for USA and China to enter into relations It was Pakistan who had supported then, This means before India realized, the USA, China, and Pakistan were forming a separate group India could not sit silently for this, it needed to take action, PM Indira Gandhi then took the action She went to USSR and signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1971 which we will see in details in later part of this video This treaty was seen as if India had changed its non-alignment position. and between USA and USSR, India chose the USSR out of it, but this treaty was justified on the basis that India acted in what best suited to her national interest at the moment in time. know which are the important events and agreements that took place in PM Indira Gandhi's tenure. First of all, let's talk about Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. This treaty was brought to limit the escalation of the nuclear arms race in the world during cold war. The countries that possessed nuclear weapons were increasing. There was a need to stop this. That's why NPT treaty was brought. NPT treaty was signed by the five permanent members of the UNSC – They were the ones who brought this treaty. USA, UK, France, China, and USSR – were five permanent members and these five were the world’s only nuclear power states at the time. and there were no other countries who had possessed nuclear weapons apart from these five countries. The NPT was signed in 1968 and came into effect in 1970. A total 187 nations are party to it. There were five Nations who did not sign the NPT agreement – India, Pakistan, Israel, South Sudan and North Korea. Signing NPT treaty meant they were further prohibited to transfer nuclear technology from one to another nation-state nor could they develop their own nuclear technology India cites that the NPT agreement is Discriminatory in nature Because the five nuclear nations actually, stopping non-nuclear nations from developing their nuclear technology. Through NPT treaty they are monopolizing nuclear technology for only five nuclear nations. That's why India took a stand and did not sign it. The next treaty is of 1971, known as the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation When India signed this treaty with USSR, it was said that india had changed its stand of non-alignment especially when it comes to choosing USA or USSR, India chose for USSR. India and USSR signed this treaty in 1971 And the time period of operation for this treaty was set for 20 years. The agreement was signed on the basis that USSR would guarantee military supplies to India and if China attacks India then USSR will come to help India The next big event called Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. Basically, this was a war between India and Pakistan. But this time it was not about the issue of Kashmir, it was India fighting with Pakistan for the third time It was a war for the Bengali speaking people in East Pakistan. If we closely look at the war then it was a kind of conflict between Urdu-speaking and Bengali-speaking people which took the form of a war Because West-Pakistan was imposing Urdu in East- Pakistan and the Bengali speaking population there resisted the same thing. The condition was getting worse when Pakistan launched operation searchlight on 25th March 1971 It was a heinous operation in history of Pakistan. Where thousands of people were killed, countless women were raped by Pak's soldiers and many people were forced to leave their land. In a night, they turned into refugees. What role did Indira Gandhi play in this? She decided to support Awami League leader Mujibur Rahman He was supporting Bengali-speaking people and opposed Pakistan. At that time, PM Indira Gandhi took two international tours, one in Europe and the other in the US. Where she highlighted atrocities being committed by Pakistan on the Bengali Speaking people of East-Pak For the first time in India’s foreign policy, the Prime Minister herself took the initiative of conducting a public relations plus diplomatic campaign. to aware the international community about the wrongs of Pakistan and what actions the international community could take. When Indira Gandhi noted that voices of Indian concerns fell on deaf ears, she decided to take the initiative. Finally, Indian army decisively entered Dhaka on 3rd Dec 1971 and took over 90,000 prisoners of war from the Pakistani Armed Forces. Pakistan could not defend her position and surrendered on 16th Dec 1971. India won the war and Bangladesh became free country. After this war, in 1972 Shimla agreement came into being. Indian PM Indira Gandhi and Pakistan PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto signed the agreement on 2nd June 1972. What were the terms of the agreement? That both parties agreed to “resolve to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations" Which means neither third party, nor any other country, nor any institutions will mediate The Charter of the UN shall govern relations between India and Pakistan. Any difference between two countries will be resolved with the help of UN charter The Ceasefire line of December 17th 1971, shall be respected where the armies were positioned before the war. and that Ceasefire line will be marked as Line of Control. This agreement would become the guiding principle of India’s commitment to ‘Bilateral resolutions’ to disputes concerning India-Pak relations In 1974, a significant event happened in India. and It was the Pokhran-1 nuclear test. The test was given codename of Operation Smiling Buddha Government called it ‘Peaceful Nuclear Explosion’ (PNE) This was not just a test. Because of this test, India became a nuclear power. This test meant India now possessed Nuclear weapons. Conducting such a test was not an easy task. It was a bold step taken by Indira Gandhi that increased the nuclear security of India unprecedently In 1975, Sikkim got assimilated into India became India's 22th State. Sikkim enjoyed a special protectorate status under PM Nehru’s tenure. This ensured that India already had control over Sikkim’s external affairs, defence, communications and diplomacy. This Means India had control over only these four areas; the rest areas were controlled by Sikkim's kingdom. The Kingdom of Sikkim was under the rule of Chogyal Namgyal. He was facing anti-monarchy protests. A referendum was held in April 1975 where 97% of population of Sikkim voted to merge with India. On 16th May 1975, the Indian Parliament passed an amendment to make Sikkim India’s 22nd state of the Union. In 1976, India restores diplomatic relations with China. This was one of the major contributions of Indira Gandhi. Because she successfully re-established the relations with china which remained suspended for 16 years since 1960. In Indira Gandhi's foreign policy, Indira Doctrine becomes very popular After the decisive victory in the 1971 war against Pakistan, India was poised to gain hegemonic status in South Asia. This means India emerged as the strongest country in South-Asia and during this time, PM Gandhi devised a doctrine for the region – called the “Indira Doctrine”. Indira Doctrine equates India’s security with that of South Asia. This further means any interference in the South Asian Region will be considered a threat to India’s security. Basically, this doctrine aims to deter any outsider's interference in the region of South-Asia This doctrine is often criticised for being held responsible as India’s Big Brother image in South Asia. Like big brother behaves with his younger brother, the same way India behaves with neighbour countries by portraying its hegemonic or dominant position in the region. Anyway..! the national emergency that Indira Gandhi declared made her lose the 1977 elections. Because of this, India gets its first non-Congress PM Morarji Desai. India had just witnessed a national emergency of 20 months, due to which Janata Party won the elections of 1977 by defeating the congress And Morarji Desai formed the government in centre Morarji Desai's contribution to foreign policy was not significant, Because he was more focused on amending the constitution so that So that a national emergency could be avoided in future, which was experienced by Indian people for 20 long months Still, his most significant contribution to foreign policy was Genuine/ Proper Non-Alignment The term Genuine Non-Alignment was coined by then Foreign Minister A.B. Vajpayee Morarji Desai wanted to alter two errors of the previous government The first error was Treaty of Peace and Friendship with USSR in 1971 Signing a treaty with USSR gives the idea that India is not following its Non-Alignment Policy genuinely. Although, he never wanted to abolish this treaty Instead he would attempt to alter the “special relationship” status of USSR it had been enjoying lately with India. India needed to follow Non-Alignment properly The second big error was Peaceful Nuclear Explosion of 1974 India should maintain its position of nuclear-disarmament; there is no need for any nuclear-weapons Let's end this video with A.B. Vajpayee's important quote on foreign policy He said Foreign policy represents a continuous dialogue between the elements of continuity and change. Where continuity is more pronounced, and change is more subtle. This means continuity is easily visible in foreign policy. But the changes in foreign policy is so tiny to be noticed But there is always continuity and changes in foreign policy Keep this quote in your mind, sometimes Examiners ask such questions in the exam You can see on screen the references we have used for this video, If you liked this video, then you must love the video showing on screen In this video, I have covered different foreign policy doctrines usually asked in the exam. For instance, Monroe Doctrine, Truman Doctrine, Indira Doctrine, Gujral Doctrine; All you will get in this video Click on the screen card to watch the video on doctrines. Thank you very much for watching this video.