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.