The Nehru Years
An International History of Indian Non-Alignment

A groundbreaking study of India in the Cold War, its internationalist ambitions, mediatory diplomacy, and peacekeeping in the Nehru period.

Swapna Kona Nayudu (Author)

9781009579087, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 April 2025

238 pages
23.6 x 16 x 1.7 cm, 0.492 kg

'The Nehru Years is especially valuable regarding Congo, where India, improbably, led a push at the United Nations to forcefully unify the newly independent country. Whereas the Non-Aligned Movement died with the Cold War, nonalignment lives on in Indian thinking. At a time when the idea is under attack, this book is a powerful reminder of what genuine leadership and internationalism look like.' Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Foreign Affairs

Scholars of international relations, political thought, and India's international and diplomatic history are increasingly interested in the relevance of non-alignment in Indian foreign policy. The origins of such policies and debates can be traced back to Nehru's conceptualization of non-alignment at the height of the Cold War. In this deeply researched study of his years as Prime Minister, 1947–64, Swapna Kona Nayudu utilizes archival research in multiple languages to uncover Indian diplomatic influence in four major international events: the Korean War, the Suez Crisis, the Hungarian Revolution, and the Congo Crisis. Through this detailed examination, she explores the contested meaning of non-alignment, a policy almost unique in its ambiguity and its centrality to a nation's political life. The resulting history is a thoughtful critique of India's diplomatic position as the only non-aligned founding member of the UN.

List of Figures
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. 'A Lonely Furrow': Tagore, Gandhi and Nehruvian Non-alignment
3. 'The Outbreak of Peace': India and the Korean War, 1950–1953
4. 'The Fog of War': India, the Suez Canal Crisis and the Hungarian Revolution, 1956
5. 'Bad Ethics and Worse Policy': India and the Congo Crisis, 1960–1964
6. Epilogue
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]