When an Indian politician pushed for an anti-communist alliance of Asian democracies

US President Donald Trump’s tenure has vindicated many in the Indian foreign policy establishment prone to reflexive anti-Americanism. However, the recent history of intensified engagement between India and the US, the ongoing bureaucratic collaboration, and the Indian ruling establishment’s cautious reaction to Trump suggest New Delhi’s receptivity to a turnaround in the relationship.

India’s continued insistence on better ties with the US provides an opportune segue to analyse the historical roots of the pro-American, liberal ideational strand of Indian internationalist thought.

Against the backdrop of the Cold War geopolitics, this particular vision offered an alternative to former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s non-aligned, zone of peace approach to the Asian regional security order. Nobody represented the Indian liberal internationalist vision as forcefully as Minoo Masani, the founding leader of the Swatantra party (1959-74).

Based on previously unused archival sources, this inquiry into Masani’s vision for India’s place in the Asian security order highlights a crucial strand of Indian internationalism during the early Cold War years, motivated by a strong sense of both geopolitical and ideological assault by the communist movement.

His consistent advocacy of closer ties with the US reveals the diversity of Indian strategic culture beyond the Nehruvian non-alignment. The Masani case also points to...

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