United Front Government’s Foreign Policy: More Continuity than Change

IK Gujral articulated the foreign policy of India as its External Affairs Minister and subsequently the Prime Minister of the 13 party coalition of United Front government during 1996-98. Gujral enunciated the neighbourhood policy in the spirit of accommodation and unilateral concessions to India's small neighbours without looking for reciprocity known as Gujral Doctrine. He viewed a role for India in world afairs with firm roots in the neighbourhood. Gujral viewed strategic rationale in his accommodative neighbourhood policy. He was a Nehruvian in his vision and philosophy and continued on the lines of foreign policy adopted by his predecessor NarsimhaRao. However, with the collapse of the coalition government his vision for neighbourhood also collapsed. Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh somehow tried to keep the spirit of Gujral doctrine alive but it has completely collapsed under NarendraModi's majoritarian big brotherly government.