There is no such thing as a foreign policy. Instead every country has foreign affairs. These remarks were once made by Patras Bokhari, the noted educationist and writer who was also a diplomat par excellence. Truer words were never spoken. The literati can better enjoy the hidden pun in the above-mentioned remarks of Patras.
Time was when Moscow and New Delhi were two sides of the same coin. They enjoyed excellent relationship. Who could have thought that one day New Delhi would ditch Moscow and snuggle up to Washington which has always been bete noire of Moscow?It was unthinkable that Moscow would forget the past and not only decide to hold joint military exercises with Pakistan but would undertake development ventures in Pakistan and sell its weaponry to it also?
In the same manner Iran too has taken a somersault in its relations with the West. There was a time when America’s meat was its poison. It seems everything has been forgiven and forgotten by Tehran. History is repeating itself. In the pre-Khomeni era Tehran was the blue-eyed boy of Washington. The present Iranian leadership wants to cultivate friendship with the US once again.
Foreign affairs of the countries are governed by their political, economic and strategic global interests which can change with the change of ground realities. Foes of yester years can suddenly become friends and vice verse. The age-old adage that there is no last word in politics has stood the test of time not only once but so many times.
68 years is a helluva time in any country’s history. Had we adopted a non-aligned foreign policy in the true sense of the word, right from 1947, we would, perhaps, have been spared many tragedies, including the one which severed our eastern wing from Pakistan. We have invested more in the American friendship than what we got in return from the Yankees. Had they wanted they could have pulled their weight for preventing split of East Pakistan masterminded by India.
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