I K Gujral and his contributions

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The Vice President of India paid rich tributes to the late Prime Minister, Shri I K Gujral while releasing through virtual mode a commemorative postage stamp in his honor.

A brief history of Shri I K Gujral(1919-2012)

He was born on December 4, 1919, Jhelum(now in Pakistan)

He was influenced by nationalistic ideas as a student and joined the All India Students Federation and the Communist Party of India.
He was imprisoned for taking part in the Quit India movement.
Post-independence, he joined the Indian National Congress party in 1964 and became a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha.
He was the Minister of Information and Broadcasting during the emergency. In 1976, he was appointed as the Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union.
In 1996, he became the Minister of External Affairs in the Deve Gowda ministry and developed the Gujral doctrine during this period.
I K Gujaral served as 12th Prime Minister of India from April 21, 1997, to March 19, 1998
He retired from all political positions in 1998. He died in 2012 at the age of 92

His contributions(Gujral Doctrine)

He is remembered for the Gujral Doctrine, a policy grounded on India’s unilaterally reaching out diplomatically to its neighbours without the expectation of reciprocity.
Former prime minister IK Gujral propounded the ‘gujral doctrine’ when he was the union minister of External Affairs in the HD Deve Gowda Government. It is considered a milestone in India’s foreign policy.
The Gujral Doctrine is a set of five principles to guide the conduct of foreign relations with India’s immediate neighbours, notably Pakistan, as spelt out by Gujral.
Five principles are:
1. Firstly, with the neighbours like Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka, India does not ask for reciprocity but gives all that it can in good faith and trust.
2. Secondly, no South Asian country will allow its territory to be used against the interest of another country of the region.
3. Thirdly, none will interfere in the internal affairs of another.
4. Fourthly, all South Asian countries must respect each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
5. And finally, they will settle all their disputes through peaceful bilateral negotiations.
Mr. Gujral wrote in his autobiography of the doctrine: “The logic behind the Gujral Doctrine was that since we had to face two hostile neighbours in the north and the west, we had to be at ‘total peace’ with all other immediate neighbours in order to contain Pakistan’s and China’s influence in the region.”