Abstract

U. S. Blunders in India

Continuation of India's nonalignment with either of the two great power blocs is America's optimum hope. Only when the United States abandons the attempt to draw India into its camp, only when U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles ceases to preach that neutralism is immoral, will Washington have taken the first step toward wisdom in its Indian policy. One wonders whether Dulles considered neutralism immoral when the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru declined the Soviets' offer of military equipment. Despite Nehru's abhorrence of communism, the Russian proposal may have been tempting. Military spending abroad is one reason for the misfortune which has befallen India's Five Year Plan. In the past few years, India has bought 240 jet aircraft and some 200 tanks overseas, almost all in Britain.