Nehru on Nonalignment (1956)
We are now engaged in a gigantic and exciting task of achieving rapid and
largescale economic development of our country. Such development, in an
ancient and underdeveloped country such as India, is only possible with
purposive planning. True to our democratic principles and traditions, we seek,
in free discussion and consultation as well as in implementation, the enthusiasm
and the willing and active cooperation of our people. We completed our first
FiveYear Plan 8 months ago, and now we have begun on a more ambitious scale
our second FiveYear Plan, which seeks a planned development in agriculture and
industry, town and country, and between factory and smallscale and cottage
production. I speak of India because it is my country and I have some right to
speak for her. But many other countries in Asia tell the same story, for Asia
today is resurgent, and these countries which long lay under foreign yoke have
won back their independence and are fired by a new spirit and strive toward new
ideals. To them, as to us, independence is as vital as the breath they take to
sustain life, and colonialism, in any form, or anywhere, is abhorrent....
. . . Peace and freedom have become indivisible, and the world cannot continue
for long partly free and partly subject. In this atomic age peace has also
become a test of human survival.
Recently we have witnessed two tragedies which have powerfully affected men and
women all over the world. These are the tragedies in Egypt and Hungary. Our
deeply felt sympathies must go out to those who have suffered or are suffering,
and all of us must do our utmost to help them and to assist in solving these
problems in a peaceful and constructive way. But even these tragedies have one
hopeful aspect, for they have demonstrated that the most powerful countries
cannot revert to old colonial methods or impose their domination over weak
countries. World opinion has shown that it can organize itself to resist such
outrages. Perhaps, as an outcome of these tragedies, freedom will he enlarged
and will have a more assured basis.
The preservation of peace forms the central aim of India's policy. It is in the
pursuit of this policy that we have chosen the path of nonalinement
[nonalignment] in any military or like pact of alliance. Nonalinement does not
mean passivity of mind or action, lack of faith or conviction. It does not mean
submission to what we consider evil. It is a positive and dynamic approach to t
such problems that confront us. We believe that each country has not only the e
right to freedom but also to decide its own policy and way of life. Only thus
can true freedom flourish and a people grow according to their own genius
We believe, therefore, in nonaggression and noninterference by one country in
the affairs of another and the growth of tolerance between them and the capacity
for peaceful coexistence. We think that by the free exchange of ideas and trade
and other contacts between nations each will learn f rom the other and truth
will prevail. We therefore endeavor to maintain friendly relationS with all
countries, even though we may disagree with them in their policies or structure
of government. We think that by this approach we can serve not only our country
but also the larger causes of` peace and good ; fellowship in the world.
Source: from a speech in Washington, D.C., December 18, 1956, printed in the U.S. Department of State Bulletin, January 14, 1957, pp. 4950.