Discuss the relevance of the normative ethos of the Non-Aligned Movement in magnifying India’s soft power in pursuit of her national interest. (2023, 20 Marks)
Soft power, in Joseph S. Nye Jr.‘s formulation (Bound to Lead, 1990; Soft Power, 2004), is the ability to get others to want what you want through attraction, drawn from a state’s culture, political values and foreign policies seen as legitimate. The normative ethos of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), codified in Panchsheel (1954) and the Ten Principles of Bandung (1955), rests on sovereign equality, non-intervention, peaceful settlement, anti-colonial solidarity and opposition to coercion. For India it works as a multiplier: it makes India’s policies read as principled, which buys access and agenda-setting more than outcomes.
How the ethos built India’s influence
- Virtue out of weakness. Short of economic and military capability after 1947, India made independence of judgement its instrument of influence, dealing with both superpowers without being claimed by either.
- Anti-colonial leadership. India raised apartheid at the UN in 1946, and the non-aligned majority carried Resolution 1514 (1960) on decolonisation, leaving lasting goodwill in Asia and Africa.
- Disarmament and mediation. Jawaharlal Nehru called for a standstill on nuclear testing in 1954; India chaired the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission in Korea and the International Control Commissions in Indo-China.
- Theory. T. V. Paul (Restraining Great Powers, 2018) reads NAM as soft balancing: weak states restraining the strong by naming, shaming and withholding legitimacy, which is soft power exercised collectively.
Where the ethos still magnifies soft power
| Element of the ethos | Contemporary Indian use | National interest served |
|---|---|---|
| South solidarity | Voice of the Global South summits (2023–24); African Union admitted to the G-20 at New Delhi, 2023 | Coalitions for UNSC reform, WTO and climate positions |
| Peaceful settlement | Abstentions on Ukraine, including February 2026 (107–12–51); “dialogue and diplomacy” | Access to Moscow and Europe alike; energy security |
| Aid without conditions | Vaccine Maitri (2021); Operation Brahma, Myanmar, 2025 | Neighbourhood influence against Chinese leverage |
| Anti-coercion | As BRICS chair, the New Delhi Declaration (September 2026) criticised unilateral tariffs and sanctions | Cover for strategic autonomy under US pressure |
Narendra Modi called NAM “the world’s moral voice” at its virtual summit of May 2020, claiming the ethos while committing little to the organisation. Shashi Tharoor (Pax Indica, 2012) locates India’s attraction in its pluralist democracy and culture; the ethos adds credibility, letting a state that has taken no patron convene others that decline to choose between Washington and Beijing.
Limits of a normative asset
- Realist scepticism. Harsh V. Pant (2020) argues India cannot afford to be non-aligned in the traditional sense, and uses NAM only instrumentally. In 1962, 1965 and 1971 several members sided with China or Pakistan.
- Strained credibility. The Quad and foundational defence agreements with the United States sit awkwardly with the old vocabulary; smaller neighbours experience India’s size as dominance.
- Weak institution. India has sent its Vice-President or External Affairs Minister to every summit since 2016, including Kampala (2024), so the ethos is drawn on more than invested in.
- Hard limits. The 50% US tariff of August 2025, cut to 18% under an interim understanding in February 2026, and the US law of September 2026 authorising tariffs of up to 100% on buyers of Russian oil show that legitimacy does not shield a state from coercion. Democracy-index downgrades also erode Nye’s “political values” pillar.
Conclusion
The ethos is relevant not as nostalgia but as the moral grammar of strategic autonomy: it makes India’s refusal of exclusivity read as principle rather than opportunism, across some 120 states. Yet soft power multiplies capability; it cannot replace it. It serves India’s interest best when matched by economic weight, delivery to the South and a credible democratic example at home.