India's Cold War Non-Alignment Policy

We have sought to avoid foreign entanglements by not joining one bloc or the other. The natural result has been that neither of these big blocs looks on us with favor. They think we are undependable. ... Last year when our delegation went to the United Nations, it was the first time a more or less independent delegation went from India. It was looked at a little askance. They did not know what it was going to do. When they found we acted according to our own will, they did not like it. ... There was a suspicion in the minds of the first group that we were really allied to the other group in secret ... and the other group thought that we were allied to the first group. ... HTMLBREAKThis year there was a slight change in this attitude. We did many things that both groups dislike, but the comprehension came to them that we were not really allied to either group. ... They did not like that, of course ... but they respected us much more, because they realized that we had an independent policy. ... They understood we stood for something. ... HTMLBREAKWe propose to keep on the closest terms with other countries unless they themselves create difficulties. ... We intend to cooperate with the United States of America, and we intend cooperating fully with the Soviet Union. ...