Morarji Desai (1977-79)

 In the Lok Sabha elections held after the lifting of emergency, Janata Party emerged
victorious and Morarji Desai assumed the office of PM.
 It was expected that under the Janata Party regime, India’s relations with the Soviet Union
will be neutralized in favour of building intimate relations with the US.
 However, these speculations were put aside as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then foreign affairs
minister, said that the new government will follow a policy of genuine non-alignment and
will try to develop intimate relations with both the super powers to achieve greater balance.
 The Janata Government continued its intimate relations with the Soviet Union as India had
benefitted immensely from the its supply of sophisticated military hardware, assistance in
diversification of country’s economy through establishment of basic industries and ever
expanding trade between the two countries.
 A new dimension to the bilateral cooperation was also added by setting up of Indo-Soviet
Joint Commission.
 The relations with the U.S. were also improved- U.S. President Carter visited India and the
traditional donor-recipient relationship was replaced by an equal partnership based on
friendship and common will to cooperate both on bilateral matters and on international
issues.
 Thus, the Janata government tried to be more even handed in dealing with the U.S. and
USSR.
 Another feature of Janata Foreign Policy was to develop closer relations with the
neighbouring countries.
 India professed non-interference in the internal affairs of its neighbouring countries and
tried to persuade the neighbours to mutual advantages in bilateralism.
 A number of concrete steps were taken to improve India’s relations with the neighbouring
countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal etc. by settling some of the outstanding disputes-
India reached an agreement with Pakistan on the question of Salal Dam in Kashmir and
concluded an agreement on Farakka with Bangladesh.
 Janata government’s policy of good neighbourliness was criticized for compromising with
India’s essential interests, but it has to be kept in mind that there was nothing new about
this policy as earlier governments too had made such efforts but could not succeed.
 One reason at this time which compelled India to improve its relations with the neighbours
was that India needed markets for its rapidly expanding agricultural surpluses.
 The Janata government tried to improve its relations with China for two reasons- uneasy
relations with China had imposed a heavy defence burden and secondly, friendly relations
with Beijing were desirable to prevent Pakistan from reverting to its old stance.
 An improvement of India- China relations could be seen in the resumption of trade,
exchange of trade delegations and cooperation in cultural and sports activities.
 As a result, the relations between the two countries were relaxed but could not be fully
normalized because of some of the existing irritants.
 In addition to all this, the Janata Government also continued the policy of improving
relations with South-East Asian nations and West Asia and extended full support to anti-
racial policies and liberation movements in Africa.
 It also claimed to play a more positive role in disarmament.
 In short, Janata party followed a foreign policy which was highly pragmatic and aimed at
promotion of national interests but there was not much deviation from the basic principles
on which Indian Foreign policy had been based so far.
Indira Gandhi’s Second Term (1980-84)

 During her second term, Indira Gandhi’s policies and postures were halting, vacillating and
lacking initiative.
 Her hasty recognition of the Kampuchean regime led by Heng Samrin (which resulted from
Vietnamese invasion) unnecessarily frustrated both China and the ASEAN group.
 Her uncertain stance on the Afghan crisis that resulted from Soviet intervention in
Afghanistan made India suspicious in the eyes of NAM countries.
 In addition, India’s relations with her immediate neighbours suddenly turned sour. India’s
efforts to achieve military superiority in the face of external threats created mistrust and
suspicion in the neighbouring countries and invited the charge of bullying on India.
 However, by the mid-1982, PM Gandhi regained her dynamism and skill in handling with
foreign policy matters and showed greater flexibility.
 Indira Gandhi’s visit to Washington in July 1982 mended India’s relations with the U.S. and
she also brought the country closer to Western European order in order to reduce
dependence on the Soviet Union.
 In the last years of her tenure, she also attempted to improve relations with Bangladesh and
Pakistan.

Rajiv Gandhi’s Tenure (1984-89)

 Rajiv Gandhi reaffirmed his faith in the United Nations, the Non Aligned Movement,
opposition to colonialism etc.
 He asserted that closer relations with our neighbours in the spirit of peace, friendship and
cooperation would be developed and that the crusade against the arms race and work for
narrowing down international disparities would be continued.
 With regards to the two superpowers, Rajiv Gandhi said that while India values its wide-
ranging and tested relationship with the Soviet Union, she also has a multi-faceted
relationship with the U.S. and attaches importance to the economic, technological and
cultural cooperation with them.
 Rajiv Gandhi also indicated his will to develop closer relation with immediate neighbours,
pursue policy of non-interference and NAM, pursue the concept of common regional
development of South Asia, improvement and strengthening of relations with China, Soviet
Union and the U.S., to carry on crusade against arms race and to promote a dialogue
between North and South to build a just economic order.
 Some significant regional foreign policy initiatives were pursued under Rajiv Gandhi,
including thawing of relations with China and improved relations with the U.S.
 During his tenure, while on one hand India’s military capability was being enhanced, on the
other hand India’s fiscal prudence was not astute as could be seen in the deteriorating
macro and fiscal indicators.
 This time was also marked by considerable internal turbulence and political instability,
culminating with the terrorist assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and growth of separatist violence
in Punjab.

V.P. Singh (1989-90)

Narsimha Rao (1991-96)

 The context of this period was provided by the unintended end of the Cold war when
overnight on 8th December, 1991, the Soviet Union became former and Russia emerged
with a very different geography and political identity.
 At this time, the world became unipolar with U.S. as the sole hegemon.
 The end of Cold War led to a complete reorientation of the Foreign Policy of most nations,
including India, as the global strategic grid was completely transformed.
 When P.V. Narsimha Rao assumed office in June, 1991, India was facing considerable
domestic turbulence and a balance of payment crisis was also looming large.
 The foreign exchange reserves of the country were down to a few weeks and all the key
determinants of India’s foreign policy were in a state of flux.
 It is in this context that major foreign policy transformation took place as Delhi embarked
upon an economic liberalization.
 As per the new policy framework, Indian economy was freed from the politico-bureaucratic
shackles imposed upon it for decades and the inflexible ‘Hindu’ rate of growth suddenly
accelerated as a result of the deft financial planning led by the then Finance Minister
Manmohan Singh and the global techno-commercial wave related computer and
information revolution.
 In order to strengthen the economic sinews, necessary changes were brought about in
India’s foreign policy orientation- trade and investment were accorded high priority, closer
relations were forged with the U.S. by responding favourably to American proposals for
military cooperation, moves were initiated to improve relations with European countries and
settle outstanding problems with neighbouring countries.
 Greater emphasis was laid on economic diplomacy and foreign policy was used as a dynamic
instrument for the promotion of national interest.
 Another notable change in foreign policy at this time was the establishment of diplomatic
relations with Israel.
 The government persisted with the policy of non-alignment and India played more active
role in restoration of peace, security and stability in different parts of the world at this time.
 Indian peace keeping forces also took a leading role in socio-economic development of
Somalia.
 At this time, both China and India agreed to reduce their military strength on the border.
 In addition, despite differences on issues like NPT, Nuclear Weapons free zone in South Asia,
Missile programme and other issues, India improved its relations with U.S. and the two
countries held Joint Naval exercises in May 1992.
  While several Indo-US Cooperation agreements were concluded in 1995, the American
pressure to sign NPT and to abandon the missile programme gave a set back to the process
of improvement of relations with the U.S.

Deva Gowda (1996-97)

 The United Front Government, a coalition of 13 parties, under the leadership of H.D. Deve
Gowda in June, 1996, continued the earlier foreign policy.
 It laid emphasis on improvement of relations with neighbouring countries and the Gujral
Doctrine was put forth granting unilateral concessions to neighbouring nations without
expecting reciprocity.
 The new government tried to keep great powers out of South Asia by making efforts to
convert SAARC into an economic union and refusing mediation by U.S., Britain and Iran in
Kashmir dispute.

I.K. Gujral (1997-98)

 At the core of I.K. Gujral’s ideas was the belief that as a dominant state in South Asia, India
could afford to be more generous while protecting its fundamental interests.
 Such a stance was taken with the objective to influence the public opinion in the
neighbouring nation even more than those of the governments there.
 In any case, India’s sober and constructive responses would have a beneficial impact on
relations with neighbours.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1998-2004)

 The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, while adhering to the traditional principles of Indian
foreign policy, laid special emphasis on the need to exercise nuclear option in the interest of
national security. It affirmed its resolve to oppose all attempts to impose a hegemonistic
nuclear regime by means of Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), and Missile Technology
Control Regime (MTCR).
 It also stressed on pursuing the matter of India's permanent membership of the Security
Council.
 It promoted closer regional relations through development of South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and improve bilateral relations with neighbouring countries
 The government also persuaded Pakistan to abandon its policy of hostile interference in
India's internal affairs by supporting insurgent and terrorist groups
 It attempted to improve relations with China by seeking speedy resolution of the
outstanding border problem and supported a united Sri Lanka in which the legitimate
aspirations of Tamil people are fully accommodated
 The Vajpayee government aimed at maintaining warm and friendly relations with Nepal and
to develop new avenues of fruitful cooperation with that country
  It also sought to improve relations with Myanmar and promote cooperation in the field of
defence, security, economy and culture while also focussing on consolidating friendly ties
with Bhutan.
 At this time, India also aimed to improve relations with Bangladesh and impress on the
Bangladesh authorities the need to check illegal infiltrations into India.
 In short the BJP government reiterated its commitment to peace among all nations and
prosperity of the people of the world.
 Under the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India also conducted nuclear tests which came in
handy in future negotiations with the West.
 Another remarkable step was the inauguration of a bus service between Delhi and Lahore
and PM Vajpayee’s visit to Pakistan which generated huge enthusiasm in the two countries.
 This was followed by signing of the Lahore Declaration and a MoU between the foreign
secretaries of the two countries.

Foreign Policy under UPA-1 AND UPA-2 Era

 At the time when Dr. Manmohan Singh assumed the office of Prime Minister, China was
rising in the global politics, power of the U.S. was declining and world was moving towards
multi-polarity.
 The government was faced with two challenges- to establish stronger relations with China,
U.S. and Pakistan, and to foster new relations with ASEAN.
 In the face of 2008 economic crisis, the UPA government continued the legacy of the
Vajpayee government while at the same time also establishing new relations with countries
that didn’t have any prior strong relations with India.

Achievements

 The new government was able to forge strong relations with US which can be seen in the
India-US Civil Nuclear Deal in 2004 which came into force in 2008, opening up of new
frontiers for India like the opportunity to enter into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG),
increased frequency of bilateral security negotiations and military exercises.
 The establishment of Quadrilateral Secutity Alliance in 2008 among India, Japan, Australia,
and United States as an informal forum, aimed to discuss partnership in making the Indo-
Pacific region into a free trade region and to counter the developments of China in the South
China Sea, established firm relations among the major powers in the Indo-Pacific region as
well as acted as a counter balance to the rising power of China.
 Another important aspect of the Manmohan Singh Administration was the establishment of
strong relations with Japan with the establishment of Delhi-Tokyo at the level of a strategic
partnership.
 Another major development under this regime was in the trade front, where India was
successful in negotiating the Indian protectionist agenda at the WTO Bali Package
 . As far as relations with the Chinese were concerned, despite the prevailing disagreements
on various matters, both found common grounds and sided with each other on the matter of
climate change.

Failures
 The UPA government failed to establish a dialogue with Pakistan over the continuous cross-
border firings and tackling of terrorist groups which culminated in the 2008 Mumbai Terror
attacks.
 Another major failure of this government was the failure to establish strong relations with
ASEAN members under its ‘Look East’ Policy as it met with a diplomatic conflict with China in
doing so.
 India also faced a hard time with US on its disagreement with US Policy in Iran, Iraq and
Libya.
 The administration also failed to improve relations with China and couldn’t materialize its
aim to re-establish status quo in Aksai Chin.