Impact of India's economy on its foreign policy since independence

The process of rebuilding the economy started in earnest in 1952 with the first five-year plan for the development of the Indian economy guiding government investment in industries and agriculture.14. [...] It was forced as a condition of the resumption of US aid, against the wishes of the Indian Finance Minister, and it was the subject of major pressure and tensions between the donors and the Government of India. [...] Until the global financial and economic crisis of 2008 demonstrated that the notion of “de-coupling” between major economies had been a delusion, there seemed no limit to the ambition (and sometimes over-reach) of the Indian private sector as reflected in coverage by India’s “pink” (financial) press, which came to embody the excesses of the “shining India” enthusiasms of the early 21st century.53. [...] The primary task of independent India’s foreign policy, therefore, in the short run, was to assist in the transformation of India’s society and economy in a way that would strengthen the cohesion and viability of the nation, with an eye to developing strategic autonomy of choice, and thus, in the longer run, smoothing the path of its emergence as a major global actor. [...] The policy of non-alignment that emerged during the 1950s facilitated the achievement of this objective, allowing Delhi mostly early on to maintain cordial relations with the two contending bloc leaders.69 But Nehru may have underestimated the extent to which his asymmetrical interpretation of the concept of non-alignment irritated several capitals in the West.