The first phase, from 1946 to 1962, could be characterized as an era of optimistic non-alignment. Its setting was very much of a bipolar world, with camps led by the US and the USSR. India’s objectives were to resist the constraining of choices and dilution of its sovereignty as it rebuilt its economy and consolidated its integrity. Its parallel goal, as the first of the decolonized nations, was to lead Asia and Africa in a quest for a more equitable world order. This was the heyday of Bandung and Belgrade, the peak of Third World solidarity. It also saw energetic Indian diplomacy from Korea
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