NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Political Science Chapter 4 India’s External Relations

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Political Science Chapter 4 India’s External Relations will make your memory skills sharper and you can easily memorize more things. Students will be able to identify your weaknesses and prepare accordingly to change it in a positive way.

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Chapter 4 India’s External Relations Class 12 Political Science II NCERT Solutions

Exercises

1. Write ‘true’ or ‘false’ against each of these statements.
(a) Non-alignment allowed India to gain assistance both from USA and USSR.
(b) India’s relationship with her neighbours has been strained from the beginning.
(c) The cold war has affected the relationship between India and Pakistan.
(d) The treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1971 was the result of India’s closeness to USA.

Solution

(a) True
(b) True
(c) True
(d) False

2. Match the following:

(a) The goal of India’s foreign policy in the period 1950-1964	i. Tibetan spiritual leader who crossed over to India
(b) Panchsheel	ii. Preservation of territorial integrity, sovereignty and economic development
(c) Bandung Conference	iii. Five principles of peaceful coexistence
(d) Dalai Lama	iv. Led to the establishment of NAM

Solution

(a) The goal of India’s foreign policy in the period 1950-1964	ii. Preservation of territorial integrity, sovereignty and economic development
(b) Panchsheel	iii. Five principles of peaceful coexistence
(c) Bandung Conference	iv. Led to the establishment of NAM
(d) Dalai Lama	i. Tibetan spiritual leader who crossed over to India

3. Why did Nehru regard conduct of foreign relations as an essential indicator of independence? State any two reasons with examples to support your reading.

Solution

India decided to conduct its foreign relations with respect to sovereignty of other nations and maintain peace and security through mutual cooperation to be reflected in the Directive Principles of State Policy on Article 51 of constitution.
India was born in the backdrop of cold war. USSR and USA had emerged as the two superpowers of the world. Under such circumstances, in his foreign relations, Nehru took up the policy of Non-alignment. He declared that India would not be a part of any of the two blocs. India made efforts to reduce cold war tensions and contributed human resources to UN peace keeping operations.

4 “The conduct of foreign affairs is an outcome of a two-way interaction between domestic compulsions and prevailing international climate”. Take one example from India’s external relations in the 1960s to substantiate your answer.

Solution

It is true that the conduct of foreign affairs is an outcome of a two-way interaction between domestic compulsions and prevailing international climate. It is both, the domestic and the international scenarios, that affect framing of the foreign policy.

We can take the example of ‘Sino-Indian conflict of 1962’ which dented India’s image at home and abroad. In October 1962 China attacked India. India was not prepared for war, thus, India had to approach the United States and Great Britain for the military assistance. The Soviet Union chose to remain neutral throughout the conflict. Unfortunately, India was defeated, and China successfully occupied several thousand miles of Indian territory that it continues to control to this day.

These events led to a feeling of national humiliation but also strengthened a spirit of nationalism. Pt. Nehru was also criticised for his naive assessment of Chinese intentions and lack of military preparedness. Defence Minister V.K. Menon gave his resignation after the conflict ended. This conflict showed India the volatility of its Northeast region and made it conscious of its national integrity.

5. Identify any two aspects of India’s foreign policy that you would like to retain and two that you would like to change if you were to become a decision maker. Give reasons to support your position.

Solution

Two Aspects of India’s Foreign Policy which I would like to retain are as follow:

• The main characteristic of India’s foreign policy is non-alignment which seeks to maintain equidistance from major power blocs and promotes cooperation among developing countries. Even today the policy of non- alignment prove very useful for India.
• India’s image of a peaceful and non-violent country is definitely an attribute ought to be retained. India’s support for Indonesia’s independence and also in the independence of various other African countries shows its character of peace, non-violence and sovereignty.

Two Aspects of India’s Foreign Policy which I would like to change are as follows:

• Policy of non-alignment is good but for world peace and security of the country, India should actively participate in world affairs.
• India should actively participate in regional organisations such as the SAARC and try to bring solutions to the problems of poverty, terrorism, and climate change aggressively.

6. Write short notes on the following.
(a) India’s Nuclear policy
(b) Consensus on foreign policy matters

Solution

(a) India’s Nuclear policy: Pt. Nehru did not believe in the violent use of nuclear energy, rather he believed in the usage of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. India advocates no first use and reiterates India’s commitment to global verifiable on non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament loading to a nuclear weapon free world. India conducted its first nuclear test in May 1974. He requested the superpowers for comprehensive nuclear disarmament. Also, India refused to sign the Non-Proliferation treaty, being imposed upon the world by the five nuclear powers- US, UK, China, USSR and France as it considered it to be discriminatory.

(b) Consensus on foreign policy matters: Prime Minister Nehru was his own foreign minister. Thus both as the prime minister and the foreign minister, he exercised profound influence in the formulation and implementation of India’s foreign policy from 1946 to 1964. His main three objectives were sovereignty, territorial integrity and rapid economic development. He strongly believed in the policy of nonalignment. When different parties came to power from time to time, foreign policy of India played a limited role in party politics. Bharatiya Jan Sangh and Swatantra Party wanted to follow pro-U.S. foreign policy. But when Janata Party came into power in 1977, there was no basic change in foreign policy.

7. India’s foreign policy was built around the principles of peace and cooperation. But India fought three wars in a space of ten years between 1962 and 1971. Would you say that this was a failure of the foreign policy? Or would you say that this was a result of international situation? Give reasons to support your answer.

Solution

There is no question that India is based on its foreign policy on the ideals of peace and collaboration. One of the basic determinants of Indian foreign policy is world peace. India has always formulated its foreign policy to promote world peace. India’s foreign policy is based on Panchsheel. But unfortunately India fought three wars in a space of ten years between 1962-72. However, we would not say that this was a failure of the foreign policy. In reality, this was a result of international situation. When China seized Tibet in 1950, tensions between India and China began to grow.

Another point of contention between India and China was a border disagreement. Both a sizable portion of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin territory in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ladakh region were claimed by China. India and China’s conflict was brought on by this global scenario. The 1965 conflict between India and Pakistan is also a consequence of world events. Kashmir was the initial source of conflict between India and Pakistan shortly after division. India and Pakistan waged a second war in 1971 over the issue of Bangladesh.

8. Does India’s foreign policy reflect her desire to be an important regional power? Argue your case with the Bangladesh war of 1971 as an example.

Solution

India has always been a country with a diverse cultural and historical heritage. India is the world’s largest democracy and was a large territory with the potential to to be an important regional power. This desire was mirrored in the 1971 Bangladesh War.

In 1970, Pakistan faced its biggest crisis in the way for a split verdict i. e. Zulficar Ali Bhutto’s Party emerged as winner in West Pakistan while Awami League led by ‘Sheikh Mujibur-Rehman’ swept through East Pakistan. The Bengali population of East Pakistan had voted to protest against discriminatory attitude of west Pakistan which was not acceptable to west Pakistan rulers. In 1971, Pakistani army arrested Sheikh Mujib and unleashed a reign of terror on East Pakistan. This started people’s struggle to liberate Bangladesh from Pakistan. India had to bear 80 lakh refugees who fled from East Pakistan to take shelter. Hence, India had to extend moral and material support to the freedom struggle in Bangladesh. A full scale war between India and Pakistan in December 1971 broke out, when Pakistan attacked on Punjab and Rajasthan to be retaliated an attack from India. Within ten days the Indian army surrounded Dhaka and Pakistan had to surrender with Bangladesh as a free country, India declared a unilateral ceasefire and Shimla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan in 1972. Most Indians saw this as a moment of national pride and a sign of India’s increasing military might.

9. How does political leadership of a nation affect its foreign policy? Explain this with the help of examples from India’s foreign policy.

Solution

During Nehru’s prime ministership, nonalignment was the main foreign policy that was strictly observed to. But, steadily, India began to incline toward the Soviet Union.
During the non-Congress government in 1977, the Janata Party declared its commitment to non-alignment. This meant that the pro-Soviet slant in foreign policy would be reversed.
Later, in the 1990s, after India opened its economy to foreign trade, it improved ties with the United States. It gradually shifted toward the US. Russia had ceased to be a global force and had lost its dominance.

Gradually, as India’s economy expanded, its leaders recognized that a healthy economy was required for a healthy and fulfilling empire. Reforms were implemented, and the industry was revitalized. Economic interests now have a greater impact on international affairs than military interests.

10. Read this Passage and answer the questions below :

“Broadly, non-alignment means not tying yourself off with military blocs… It means trying to view things, as far as possible, not from the military point of view, though that has to come in sometimes, but independently, and trying to maintain friendly relations with all countries”. – Jawaharlal Nehru

(a) Why does Nehru want to keep off military blocs?
(b) Do you think that the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty violated the principle of non-alignment? Give reasons for your answer,
(c) If there were no military blocs, do you think non-alignment would have been unnecessary?

Solution

(a) Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to keep off military blocks to the newly independent countries for the protection of sovereignty, integrity and dignity of newly independent countries.
(b) Indo-Soviet friendship did not violated principle of non-alignment, because India did not join Soviet bloc or military bloc. Moreover, it was a treaty of peace and cooperation.
(c) NAM emphasises on disarmament, decolonisation and terrorism except staying away from military blocs.