Editing Indira Gandhi (section)

=== Africa ===

Although independent India was initially viewed as a champion of various African independence movements, its cordial relationship with the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] and its liberal views of British policies in [[East Africa]] had harmed its image as a staunch supporter of various independence movements in the [[third world]].<ref name="Ghosh2">{{cite book|first=Anjali|last=Ghosh|title=India's Foreign Policy|publisher=[[Pearson plc|Pearson]]|year=2009|pages=422–424|isbn=978-81-317-1025-8}}</ref> Indian condemnation of militant struggles in [[Mau Mau Uprising|Kenya]] and [[Algerian War|Algeria]] was in sharp contrast to China, who had supported armed struggle to win African independence.<ref name="Ghosh2" /> After reaching a high diplomatic point in the aftermath of Nehru's role in the [[Suez Crisis]], India's isolation from Africa was almost complete when only four nations—[[Ethiopia]], [[Kenya]], [[Nigeria]], and Libya—supported her during the [[Sino-Indian War]] in 1962.<ref name="Ghosh2" /> After Gandhi became prime minister, diplomatic and economic relations with the states which had sided with India during the Sino-Indian War were expanded.<ref name="Ghosh2" /> Gandhi began negotiations with the Kenyan government to establish the Africa-India Development Cooperation. The Indian government also started considering the possibility of bringing Indians settled in Africa within the framework of its policy goals to help recover its declining geo-strategic influence. Gandhi declared the people of Indian origin settled in Africa as "Ambassadors of India".<ref name="Ghosh2" /> Efforts to rope in the Asian community to join Indian diplomacy, however, came to naught, in part because of the unwillingness of Indians to remain in politically insecure surroundings, and because of the exodus of African Indians to Britain with the passing of the [[Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968|Commonwealth Immigrants Act]] in 1968.<ref name="Ghosh2" /> In [[Uganda]], the African Indian community [[Expulsion of Asians from Uganda|suffered persecution and eventually expulsion]] under the government of [[Idi Amin]].<ref name="Oonk">{{cite book|first=Gijsbert|last=Oonk|title=Global Indian Diasporas: Exploring Trajectories of Migration and Theory|publisher=[[Amsterdam University Press]]|year=2007|page=189|isbn=978-90-5356-035-8}}</ref>

Foreign and domestic policy successes in the 1970s enabled Gandhi to rebuild India's image in the eyes of African states.<ref name="Ghosh2" /> Victory over Pakistan and India's possession of nuclear weapons showed the degree of India's progress.<ref name="Ghosh2" /> Furthermore, the conclusion of the Indo-Soviet treaty in 1971, and threatening gestures by the United States, to send its nuclear-armed [[Task Force 74]] into the [[Bay of Bengal]] at the height of the East Pakistan crisis had enabled India to regain its anti-imperialist image.<ref name="Ghosh2" /> Gandhi firmly tied Indian anti-imperialist interests in Africa to those of the Soviet Union.<ref name="Mawdsley">{{Cite book| publisher = Fahamu & Pambazuka| pages = 51–52|url={{Googlebooks|fMnTomlIPQwC|page=PA51|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|isbn=978-1-906387-65-5| last = Mawdsley| first = Emma|author2=Gerard McCann| title = India in Africa: Changing Geographies of Power| year = 2011}}</ref> Unlike Nehru, she openly and enthusiastically supported liberation struggles in Africa.<ref name="Mawdsley" /> At the same time, Chinese influence in Africa had declined owing to its incessant quarrels with the Soviet Union.<ref name="Ghosh2" /> These developments permanently halted India's decline in Africa and helped to reestablish its geo-strategic presence.<ref name="Ghosh2" />