I K GUJRAL


INDER KUMAR GUJRAL
(4 Dec 1919 – 30 Nov 2012)

Born in Sohawa Tehsil (now in Pakistan), Inder Kumar Gujral ascended slowly but steadily from a freedom activist, to a politician, to a minister and to a diplomat before he 'accidentally' found himself as the 12th Prime Minister of India on 21 April 1997 to 19 March 1998...

Gujral received credit for two significant shifts in Indian foreign policy while he was External Affairs Minister in the HD Deve Gowda cabinet in 1996 - 'Gujral doctrine' and his refusal to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)...

The Gujral Doctrine highlighted five principles with regard to having cordial relations with India’s immediate neighbours, underlining it's importance to the furthering of India's regional stature and strength...

The principles enumerated are thus:

  " - With neighbours like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, India does not ask for reciprocity but gives and accommodates what it can in good faith and trust.
   - No South Asian country should allow its territory to be used against the interest of another country of the region.
   - No country should interfere in the internal affairs of another.
   - All South Asian countries must respect each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
   - They should settle all their disputes through peaceful bilateral negotiations."

The above doctrine initiated discussions of several issues like Bangladesh water sharing, Nepal Mahakali river hydel project, Sri Lankan cooperation and the starting of composite dialogue with Pakistan...

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), something that was first concieved by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1954 and then by President John F Kennedy, came into vogue in 1996, with a vision of being a nuclear watchdog...

Out of eight, India, one of the three 'developing' nations - five already nuclear-developed - refused to be a signatory. Gujral, the then External Affairs Minister said:

“The treaty as it has been drafted is a charade. If we want to rid the world of these weapons, then it is the five powers which have the weapons that have to do something."

Under dialysis for over a year Gujral developed a lung infection on 19th November 2012, and was admitted in Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon. Deteriorating, he lost consciousness on 27th and passed away this day, exactly a decade ago. He would have been 93 in four days time...

Said former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh in his tribute to his predecessor, that Gujral was a “gentleman-politician with a liberal and humanist vision, whose qualities of heart and head enabled him to make his mark in every office he held.”


🙏🙏🌹💐    🇮🇳

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