It is widely believed that Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is dissatisfied with the functioning of the Ministry of External Affairs. It is also well known that many members of the Indian Foreign Service are discontented and dispirited these days, and have been so for some years. Why?
Notwithstanding India’s recently comple¬ted chairmanship of the Nonaligned Movement and the amply demonstrated charm of the Prime Minister, India’s voice cannot be considered objectively to be one of influence in world politics today. India’s strategic environment is no better, and probably a lot worse, in the 1980 s than it was in the 1950’s. Indian diplomacy has failed to resolve problems which impinge on many aspects of our national life: Pakistan’s hostility and successful search for support; China’s claims to and physical control of some Indian territory; American indifference to Indian goals and aspirations; Soviet occu¬pation of a nonaligned South Asian country, Afghanistan. Without any com¬parable successes with which to balance the ledger, the Indo-Soviet Treaty of 1971 being at best a mixed blessing arous¬ing controversy, and fresh ideas being in very short supply if not non-existent, it is no wonder that thinking people deplore the current state of Indian foreign relations. Review is imperative for any improvement to take place.