India has civilisationally been champion of peace. It doesn’t mean that India suffers from inherent weakness to wage war; it is just that India has never nurtured policies to invade countries. It has supported universal serenity. This doctrine was never as relevant as it is today when the world is witnessing ravages of destructive wars somewhere in the globe every day.
This year, India is presiding over the group of 20 top countries called G20. In all the events organised at G20 forums, India has batted for resolution of conflicts that have been raging in the world, most particularly the Ukraine War. Despite the utmost pressure from the world powers, India hasn’t yielded to taking sides in an unjust war that is smoldering humanity into pieces.
The bedrock of India’s peace policy sits on religious scriptures that have enriched the thinking of its policy makers. Ancient Indic wisdom “Basudeva Kutumbkam”, or the whole world is one home, has worked as a mantra for India’s foreign policy czars. They have repeatedly emphasised that since the world forms one unit or one house, countries should build their relations on the pedestal of brotherhood rather than envious competition.
Another scriptural dictum that Indian policy follows is that “God loves peace, and forbids from creating unrest”.
The lodestar of peace in India was the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi. He said, “I believe that nonviolence is infinitely superior to violence, forgiveness is more manly than punishment, forgiveness adorns a soldier… I am not pleading for India to practice nonviolence because it is weak. I want her to practice nonviolence, being conscious of her strength and power.” These words echo vibrantly in Indian foreign policy and common life in the country.
India has also adopted Gandhi’s golden words: “There is no path to Peace, Peace is the Path.”
India has played its role in the world wherever peace is needed. India shaped the UN by providing a peacekeeping force, and it is one of the most vocal advocates for Peace. India has a long history in peacekeeping in the world. Since 1948, India has contributed more than 253,000 personnel to the United Nations peacekeeping operations (UNPKO), which is the largest contribution for any other country in the world. Indian peacekeeping forces have served in 49 of the 71 UNPK operations, and currently, Indian forces are deployed in 8 operations out of 13 active peacekeeping operations. Currently, more than 5500 Indian personnel are serving peacekeeping operations, which is the fifth largest contributor to the peace mission by UNO.
Few months ago, at the Samarkand summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin: “It’s not the era of war.” It got a lot of attention in western media and political circles.
Peace is directly linked to the flourishing economy of countries. In recent years, owing to conflicts and the Covid-19 pandemic, the world is undergoing extreme economic strains. Some countries are on the verge of a hopeless debacle. World countries are not ready to deteriorate the economic crisis.
Therefore, the world will have to turn to “the doctrine of peace” and bring all warring sides to sit and settle for peace at any cost.
(The writer is a lawyer by training and an advocate of peace by conviction)
