Round The World
New
Delhi, 23 August 2018
Vajpayee’s Foreign Policy
BLEND OF REALISM & RESTRAINT
By Dr. D. K. Giri
(Prof. International Politics, JMI)
Atal Bihari Vajpayee left deep footprints on
Indian politics in the six decades of his political activism. A great deal has
been written about his rich legacy by his associates and observers. It is
perhaps in order that we recall his unique contribution to India’s foreign
policy as he began his Ministerial stints as Foreign Minister in 1977-79 in the
government led by Morarji Desai. Twenty years later he became the Prime
Minister for six years, from 1998 to 2004 deftly guiding foreign affairs.
Vajpayee’s foreign policy was a wonderful
blend of realism and restraint. He was conscious of the need for India to be on
the world stage as a great power to reckon with, at the same time, he was aware
that India should deal with its smaller neighbours with restraint, not to indulge
in over-reach or chest-thumping. He was also conscious of the RSS world view
and positioning India, as well as the Nehruvian legacy of idealism, non-alignment,
fence-sitting, etc.
Vajpayee, in fact, discarded both, and
created his own approach to India’s foreign policy. He repudiated the
‘exclusionary nationalism’ of RSS that fragmented the domestic basis of
national power drawn from Hindutva canons, and Nehruvian isolationism drawn
from non-alignment, by declaring that India and America are natural allies;
non-alignment is antithetical to alliance making.
During 1977-79, Vajpayee was the Foreign
Minister. He brought creativity and intellectual flair into the foreign office,
much to the chagrin of the conservative foreign policy establishment. He was
the first Cabinet minister to visit China, two decades after Prime Minister
Nehru had been. He surprised his Chinese counterpart as he announced that “the
border problems should not constitute a hindrance to improving our bilateral
relations.” That was an offer of friendship, although Chinese did not
reciprocate then with equal warmth and sincerity. Vajpayee did not give up.
In order to regain the prestige while
retaining the autonomy in foreign policy making, his Janata government
recalibrated non-alignment as “genuine non-alignment”. A journalist once asked him
in a press conference, “Foreign Minister, are you tilted towards America or
Soviet Union?” Vajpayee quipped, “I am not tilted anyway, please watch, I am
standing straight.” Vajpayee, for the first time as Indian Minister spoke in
the United Nations in Hindi, a symbolic manifestation of Indian nativism.
It may be recalled that relationship with our
neighbours, especially Pakistan was at its best during Janata period. An
anecdote goes that, when Morarji Desai, then Prime Minister came to know of
Zia-ul-Haq’s plan to expand his army, he telephoned Zia and said, “General, why
are you spending money on expanding the army, if your country is ever under
attack, my army will be at your disposal.” That heartwarming gesture by Morarji
melted General Zia. No wonder Morarji was given the highest honour of Pakistan,
Shan-e-Pakistan. Behind such friendly posturing, was the Foreign Minister, Atal
Bihari Vajpayee.
Twenty years later, Vajpayee became the Prime
Minister with greater power and determination to re-shape India’s foreign
policy. Three initiatives taken by him during his premiership were outstanding
– the second nuclear test in 1998, the Kargil war of 1999, and the outreach to
Pakistan. Vajpayee, as soon as he took over as Prime Minister, went from
conducting the six nuclear tests announcing India’s presence in the world as a
nuclear weapon State.
India was not a signatory to Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), so technically it could do the nuclear test.
But the reaction from the world was expectedly to be excoriating, hence it had
to be extremely brave decision that one had to take and Vajpayee did. The five
nuclear powers were too guarded to allow any other country to acquire nuclear
weapons due not to lose their nuclear privilege and for the inherent dangers
nuclear weapons carry.
However, Vajpayee knew it too well that the
currency for a nation’s power is the nuclear capability. He did not want India
to lose out on its quest for being a world power, especially vis-à-vis China, a
nuclear weapon State. Those critical of Vajpayee for not standing up to China
were rebuffed when he went single-handed for the nuclear tests as an answer to
China’s bullying and belligerence.
Having done the test, shown to the world
India’s prowess, Vajpayee immediately went down the road of moderation and
restraint. He announced an informal moratorium on further nuclear tests, and
committed to no-first-use (NFU). Such self-restraint mollified many, upset by
India’s nuclear bravado, and looked at the incident with understanding and
empathy.
The second issue is Vajpayee’s outreach to
Pakistan. Many expected a toughening of approach towards Pakistan by a BJP-led
government. Vajpayee surprised all those by his extra-ordinary realism. He
famously said, “You cannot change geography, meaning you cannot change or
choose your neighbours.” He tried to drive the point home by building peace
with Pakistan. He jumped into a bus and headed for Pakistan to build bridges.
As per the custom a dinner was hosted in his honour. It was reported that the
atmosphere was a bit tense. He diffused the tension in a simplistic answer to a
query by one journalist accompanying his delegation.
When the journalist asked what his impression
of the dinner-talks was, Vajpayee said, in a lighter vein, “I do not know about
the talks but you do not get the gajar ka halwa (carrot pudding) as good
as in Islamabad. He then turned to General Musharraf and asked, “Is it not,
General?” Such was the sense of detachment and the ability to generate
good-will. His Pakistan visit, however, turned out to be a ‘fiasco’ as Pakistan
attacked India to avenge India’s occupation of the Siachin glacier in 1984 at
Kargil-Dras sector of J&K.
That brings us to the infamous Kargil war of
1999, which India decisively won. But the way Vajpayee conducted the war was a
remarkable display of aggression as well as restraint. He declared that not an
inch of territory could be ceded at any cost but the LOC would not be crossed.
Such restraint was admired by many international actors and earned India the
support needed at that juncture.
Vajpayee’s foreign policy was one of relaxed
realism, a blend of pragmatism and idealism, a balance which is the hallmark of
India’s culture and civilization.--- INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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