Nehru and Zhou Enlai

India's first prime minister after independence and a loyal believer of Mahatma Gandhi, the Nehru Dynasty he cultivated has still influenced Indian politics. Nehru was also one of the founders of the Third World Non-Aligned Movement. He ideologically accepted the capitalist system and implemented socialist policies. During the Cold War, he was more pro-Soviet between the United States and the Soviet Union. Nehru's great power ambition later led to the Sino-Indian border conflict, leaving behind the border issue that still plagues Sino-Indian relations to this day.

Nehru (November 14, 1889 -) was born into a wealthy Brahmin family in Kashmir. He was educated by private tutors until the age of 16. He entered Harrow School in England in 1905, Trinity College in Cambridge in 1907, and received an honorary degree in 1910. He qualified as a solicitor at the Inner Temple Law Society in London in 1912 and returned to work as a lawyer. In 1916, under the arrangement of the family, he married the 17-year-old daughter of a Kashmiri merchant. Their daughter Indira Gandhi was born in 1917.

Nehru met Gandhi for the first time at the annual meeting of the Congress Party in 1916. Gandhi's insistence on fighting for Indian independence had a great influence on him and his relationship with the Congress Party became increasingly close. In 1921, the Congress Party was declared illegal by the British ruling authorities, and Nehru was arrested and imprisoned for the first time. He served as General Secretary of the Congress Party twice in 1923 and 1927. He visited various parts of India and discovered the extreme poverty of farmers.

In 1926, Nehru visited the Soviet Union and became interested in Marxism and the socialist system. In 1929, he was elected president of the Congress Party, declaring that the main goal of the party was to win the full independence of India. He was arrested eight times and spent nine years in prison. He also studied Marxism and wrote books in prison. In 1932, he was arrested with Gandhi for launching the non-cooperation movement. In 1936, his wife died of pneumonia in Switzerland. In 1940, he was arrested again with Gandhi. In 1942, the Congress Party passed a resolution demanding that Britain withdraw from India, and he was arrested again. In 1947, when India became independent, Nehru served as Prime Minister until his death, for 18 years, while also serving as President of the Congress Party.

Nehru implemented an economic policy in India that was basically a capitalist mixed socialist planned economy. Following the five-year plan implemented by the Soviet Union, India's economic growth during Nehru's administration averaged 4% per year, which exceeded the economic growth rate of the United States and other newly independent countries at that time, but was not as good as that of Western Europe and other socialist countries. Nehru emphasized providing necessary social care for the poor and homeless, so he had high prestige among the Indian people.

In terms of political system, Nehru copied the British system, including judiciary, legislative assembly, government and education system.

Nehru led the reform of ancient Indian civil law, the protection of widows' right to inherit property, the reform of Hinduism, and the legal abolition of the caste system. The four principles of his domestic policy were: democracy, socialism, unity and secularism.

Nehru firmly opposed colonialism and was one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence (Panchasila).

Comment: A controversial figure.