The Tashkent Agreement of January 1966 was signed between:

Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan

Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

Which of the following is NOT one of the five principles of Panchsheel?

Collective defence through a military alliance

India described its first nuclear test, conducted at Pokhran in May 1974, as:

A declaration that India was a nuclear weapons state

A joint test with the Soviet Union

Which pair of leaders, together with Nehru, are regarded as the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement?

Zhou Enlai of China and Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam

Fidel Castro of Cuba and Nelson Mandela of South Africa

Ayub Khan of Pakistan and Sukarno of Indonesia

India’s External Relations — Non-alignment, Wars and the Nuclear Policy

India became independent as the Cold War began, and its leaders had to decide how a poor, newly free country should deal with a world divided into two blocs. Their answer, shaped by Jawaharlal Nehru, who was Prime Minister and also his own Foreign Minister, was non-alignment: keeping away from both military blocs while engaging with both, and using the country’s voice for peace, decolonisation and disarmament. This chapter follows that policy through its high points and its tests — the relationship with China and the war of 1962, the wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971, and India’s nuclear policy. Most questions are a treaty or conference with its year and its signatories.

Nehru and the Policy of Non-alignment

Nehru’s foreign policy had three broad objectives: to preserve the sovereignty India had won at great cost, to protect its territorial integrity, and to promote rapid economic development. Non-alignment served all three. It was not neutrality or isolation: India took positions on world issues, judged each on its merits, and accepted aid from both blocs. Critics in India argued that it was unprincipled or that it left India without reliable friends; the book notes that India’s non-alignment came under strain when it signed a treaty of friendship with the USSR in 1971.

India championed Afro-Asian unity. Even before independence, Nehru convened the Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi in March 1947. India supported the freedom struggle of Indonesia and opposed racism and apartheid in South Africa. The Bandung Conference of Asian and African nations, held in Indonesia in April 1955, prepared the ground for the Non-Aligned Movement, whose first summit was held in Belgrade in September 1961. Its founders were Nehru, Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, with Sukarno of Indonesia and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana as strong supporters.

China, and the Wars with Pakistan

India was among the first countries to recognise the communist government of China. In 1954 Nehru and the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai agreed on Panchsheel, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence — mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. Relations deteriorated after China took control of Tibet in 1950, and especially after the Dalai Lama sought and received asylum in India in 1959, together with a dispute over the boundary in the western (Aksai Chin) and eastern sectors. In October 1962 China launched a swift and massive attack in both sectors. The defeat hurt India’s standing and led to the resignation of the Defence Minister V. K. Krishna Menon; it also deepened the split in the Communist Party of India, which divided in 1964.

India and Pakistan — wars and settlements
Year	Event	Settlement
1947–48	Conflict over Kashmir	A ceasefire under UN supervision
1960	Cooperation despite hostility	Indus Waters Treaty, signed by Nehru and General Ayub Khan with World Bank mediation
1965	War, under Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri	Tashkent Agreement (January 1966), signed by Shastri and Ayub Khan, with the Soviet Union mediating
1971	War over the crisis in East Pakistan; Pakistan’s forces surrendered and Bangladesh emerged	Simla Agreement (July 1972), signed by Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
1999	Kargil conflict	Indian forces regained the positions

Before the 1971 war, India signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship with the Soviet Union in August 1971, which assured India of Soviet support if attacked. The war of December 1971 lasted about two weeks and ended with the surrender of Pakistan’s army in the east. The book treats this as a high point of Indira Gandhi’s leadership.

🧠 Pair each agreement with its war and its signatories

Tashkent (1966) follows the 1965 war — Shastri & Ayub Khan, Soviet mediation. Simla (1972) follows the 1971 war — Indira Gandhi & Z.A. Bhutto. Indus (1960) — Nehru & Ayub Khan, World Bank. The mistake is to pair Simla with Ayub Khan: by 1972 Pakistan was led by Bhutto.

India’s Nuclear Policy

Nehru had faith in science and technology, and India’s nuclear programme was begun in the late 1940s under the guidance of Homi J. Bhabha. Nehru opposed nuclear weapons and pleaded for comprehensive nuclear disarmament, but the major powers did not disarm. India regarded the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968) as discriminatory and refused to sign it. India conducted its first nuclear test, at Pokhran in May 1974, describing it as a peaceful nuclear explosion. In May 1998 India carried out further tests and declared itself a nuclear weapons state; Pakistan followed with its own tests soon after. India’s stated policy rests on a "no first use" commitment and a credible minimum deterrent, and it reiterates its support for universal, verifiable and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament.

Key takeaways

Nehru’s goals: sovereignty, territorial integrity and economic development; non-alignment meant staying out of both blocs while engaging with both.
Asian Relations Conference, New Delhi, March 1947; Bandung, April 1955; first NAM summit, Belgrade, September 1961.
NAM founders: Nehru, Tito (Yugoslavia) and Nasser (Egypt), with Sukarno and Nkrumah.
Panchsheel 1954 (Nehru and Zhou Enlai); Dalai Lama’s asylum 1959; Chinese attack October 1962; Krishna Menon resigned.
Tashkent 1966 (Shastri–Ayub, Soviet mediation) after 1965; Indo-Soviet treaty August 1971; Simla 1972 (Indira Gandhi–Bhutto) after 1971.
Nuclear: Homi Bhabha; NPT (1968) refused as discriminatory; Pokhran tests May 1974 and May 1998; no first use.

Practice questions (8)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

The first summit of the Non-Aligned Movement was held in 1961 at:
1. Bandung
2. New Delhi
3. Cairo
4. Belgrade
Show answer
Answer: D — Belgrade
The first NAM summit met in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in September 1961. Bandung is the commonest wrong answer: the Afro-Asian conference held there in 1955 prepared the ground for the movement, but it was not a NAM summit.
The Tashkent Agreement of January 1966 was signed between:
1. Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan
2. Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
3. Jawaharlal Nehru and Ayub Khan
4. Indira Gandhi and Yahya Khan
Show answer
Answer: A — Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan
After the 1965 war, Shastri and Ayub Khan signed the Tashkent Agreement with Soviet mediation. Indira Gandhi and Bhutto signed the Simla Agreement of 1972 after the next war, and Nehru and Ayub Khan signed the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 — the three pairings are designed to be confused.
Which of the following is NOT one of the five principles of Panchsheel?
1. Non-aggression
2. Collective defence through a military alliance
3. Non-interference in each other’s internal affairs
4. Peaceful coexistence
Show answer
Answer: B — Collective defence through a military alliance
The five principles are mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, non-aggression, non-interference, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. Collective defence through a military alliance belongs to bloc politics — the very thing a non-aligned India stayed out of.
Arrange the following in chronological order:
A. Simla Agreement
B. Bandung Conference
C. Tashkent Agreement
D. Panchsheel agreement between India and China
1. B, D, C, A
2. D, B, A, C
3. D, B, C, A
4. D, C, B, A
Show answer
Answer: C — D, B, C, A
Panchsheel is 1954, Bandung 1955, Tashkent 1966 and Simla 1972. Panchsheel and Bandung are only a year apart, which is where most candidates slip — Panchsheel came first, and its principles were echoed at Bandung.
India described its first nuclear test, conducted at Pokhran in May 1974, as:
1. A declaration that India was a nuclear weapons state
2. A test conducted under the NPT
3. A peaceful nuclear explosion
4. A joint test with the Soviet Union
Show answer
Answer: C — A peaceful nuclear explosion
India called the 1974 test a peaceful nuclear explosion. The declaration of nuclear weapons status came with the tests of May 1998, which is the trap; and India has never been a party to the NPT, so no test was conducted under it.
Consider the following statements:
1. India signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship with the Soviet Union in August 1971.
2. Non-alignment meant that India took no position on international issues.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1. Only 1
2. Only 2
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Answer: A — Only 1
Statement 1 is correct: the Indo-Soviet treaty was signed in August 1971, months before the war. Statement 2 is wrong — non-alignment is not neutrality; India took positions on issues such as colonialism, apartheid and disarmament, judging each on its merits.
Following the war with China in 1962, which minister resigned from the Union Cabinet?
1. Morarji Desai
2. Lal Bahadur Shastri
3. Y.B. Chavan
4. V.K. Krishna Menon
Show answer
Answer: D — V.K. Krishna Menon
V.K. Krishna Menon, the Defence Minister, resigned after the 1962 defeat. Y.B. Chavan is the trap: he succeeded Menon as Defence Minister, so his name is tied to the same moment but to the opposite role.
Which pair of leaders, together with Nehru, are regarded as the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement?
1. Zhou Enlai of China and Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam
2. Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt
3. Fidel Castro of Cuba and Nelson Mandela of South Africa
4. Ayub Khan of Pakistan and Sukarno of Indonesia
Show answer
Answer: B — Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt
Nehru, Tito and Nasser are the three founders; Sukarno and Nkrumah were close supporters. Zhou Enlai attended the Bandung Conference, which makes him tempting, but China has never been a member of the Non-Aligned Movement.