‘Nehru was against America’: Jaishankar on foreign policies under Congress govt in 1950s

External affairs minister S Jaishankar, at a summit on Wednesday, comparing the governance under former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and PM Narendra Modi said that India needed to “get out of the cult worship where anything from 1946 till pick-your-year were great years and everything went splendidly, everything that went wrong other people were to blame”.

Speaking at Network 18's Rising Bharat Summit, Jaishankar said that there is a great sense of pride within the country about itself.

He added that in the 1950s, the Indian government alienated Americans on behalf of China. “This is a bubble we have created. In the earlier years, it was very much a Nehruvian ideological bubble. Nehru was against America, so everybody was against America. Nehru says China is a great friend, everybody says China is a great friend. Even today you have a concept called Chindia.”

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Jaishankar also questioned decisions taken by Nehru adding that it wasn't about being hind-sighted. He said, “We were alienating the Americans on behalf of China back in the 1950s. We were taking up China's cause. In 1950, we spoilt our relationship with America because we were arguing on behalf of China.”

Jaishankar said that Nehru's foreign policies were not above reproach. “(There is a feeling) that Nehru's foreign policy is such an impeccable theology that even today whoever comes to power must follow it and any deviation is wrong. Companies are audited, after all, countries should also be audited, policies should be audited and people must look at the past with an open and critical mind.”

Lauding PM Modi's foreign relations, Jaishankar said “Modi ki guarantee” works just as well abroad as in India. “When I go out and explain foreign policy I would say Modi ki guarantee works outside as much as it works back home....You know the Modi ki guarantee also applies that we keep petrol prices at a reasonable price by not bowing down to political pressure.”

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“As people's basic necessity is met, there is a new thought pervading the middle-class. People today know that water, electricity, health needs will be provided,” he said.

When questioned about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and addressing criticism from Western countries, Jaishankar stated, “This is an issue of correcting a certain situation of our history.”

The foreign minister added, “It is a question of being just, of being fair to those people who were caught on the wrong side of history at the time when partition happened… If you look at the predicament of these people, these are stateless people who are stateless because of no fault of theirs. Because political leaders of a certain era got it wrong. Somebody is righting a wrong. They are not wronging anybody, they are actually righting a situation where a wrong has been done to many people.”

Jaishankar also emphasised the importance of auditing not just companies but also countries and policies, advocating for a critical and open-minded examination of past events.