Book Review: The Nehru Years

Swapna Kona Nayudu’s The Nehru Years offers a compelling and meticulously researched exploration of India’s foreign policy—specifically non-alignment—under former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Non-alignment refers to a foreign policy approach adopted by newly independent countries, particularly during the Cold War, which sought to avoid formal alliances with either of the two major power blocs: the United States (capitalist West) and the Soviet Union (communist East). In this book, the author aims to decipher the intricacies of non-alignment and how India, under Nehru, played a significant role in establishing it. Moreover, she delves into the complexities and nuances of a policy that has often been misunderstood or oversimplified. At the very beginning of the book, Nayudu challenges the conventional view of non-alignment as mere neutrality or a passive stance between the US and Soviet blocs. Instead, she presents it as a proactive and principled approach to international relations, rooted in India’s anti-colonial ethos and its aspiration for a more equitable global order. Drawing from extensive archival research, the author examines India’s diplomatic engagements in four critical international crises: the Korean War, the Suez Crisis, the Hungarian Revolution and the Congo Crisis. Through these case studies, Nayudu illustrates how Nehru’s vision of non-alignment was both ideologically driven and pragmatically executed, often navigating complex geopolitical terrains.

The book delves into the philosophical underpinnings of Nehru’s foreign policy, highlighting the influences of thinkers like Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi. Nayudu argues that non-alignment was not just a strategic choice but also an ethical commitment to peace, sovereignty and anti-imperialism. This perspective is particularly evident in the chapter titled “A Lonely Furrow,” where she discusses how Nehru’s ideas were shaped by India’s colonial experience and its desire to forge an independent path in global affairs. In this chapter, she emphasises that Nehruvian non-alignment reflects a synthesised interpretation of the ideas of both Gandhi and Tagore. However, Nehru did not merely merge their perspectives; he selectively adopted what he considered most valuable from each, leaving out the rest based on his own judgement.

This becomes even more evident as the book progresses. While discussing the events of the Korean War in 1950, Nayudu highlights that, although Tagore and Gandhi challenged Asian nationalism primarily for an Indian audience, Nehru took on a more active global role, significantly contributing to the resolution of the conflict.

Although Nehru collaborated with other non-aligned nations in pursuing peaceful solutions during these crises, it was unmistakably India that took centre stage, driven largely by Nehru’s own stature and influence as a respected global leader.

Nayudu also offers a nuanced exploration of the internal contradictions within Nehru’s vision of non-alignment, exposing the gap between principle and practice. Nehru’s foreign policy, though rooted in idealism, was frequently shaped—and at times compromised—by the pragmatic demands of geopolitical crises and national interest. This tension is clearly illustrated in India’s differing responses to the Suez and Hungarian crises. While India openly condemned Western aggression in the Suez, it responded with noticeable restraint during the Soviet invasion of Hungary. Nayudu attempts to reconcile this disparity, but the asymmetry remains clear. India’s emerging strategic alignment with the Soviet Union made a strong rebuke of Moscow diplomatically inconvenient. The justification that silence was necessary to preserve diplomatic channels for peace, what many see as a hallmark of Nehruvian diplomacy, has since been adopted by his successors. It continues to serve as a convenient diplomatic tool, as evidenced during the Ukrainian crisis.

Equally compelling is Nayudu’s analysis of Nehru’s comparatively cautious engagement with Africa. Unlike his more confident posture in Asia, Nehru appeared uneasy navigating the complexities of post-colonial African identity, particularly its racial dimensions. Although he took a strong stand against apartheid in South Africa, he struggled to grasp how deeply issues of race permeated the continent’s broader political landscape. He showed little interest in promoting a pan-African political vision, revealing the limits of his internationalist aspirations.

One of Nehru’s most enduring contributions, however, lies in India’s long-standing commitment to United Nations peacekeeping. Nayudu traces this trajectory from its early days, when India deployed unarmed troops as neutral observers, to more active roles, including armed but non-combative missions. This culminated in India’s participation in the Congo, where peacekeeping evolved into a full-scale military intervention to alter the balance on the ground. This shift in India’s role, from passive observer to active stabiliser, underscores a fascinating and often overlooked aspect of Nehru’s legacy, one that merits deeper exploration.

All in all, this book offers a much-needed and insightful re-examination of non-alignment theory, shedding new light on how independent India navigated the post-war international order. With conceptual depth and a wealth of empirical detail, Swapna Kona Nayudu brilliantly weaves together strands of intellectual and international history. The in-depth research makes this book essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Indian foreign policy or the broader dynamics of the decolonisation era.