 In April 1955, leaders from 29 countries were getting together at Bandung in Indonesia. Their aim? To reiterate their commitment towards world peace and exhibit Afro-Asian solidarity. It had been almost 10 years since the end of the Second World War, and almost all the participants of this Bandung conference, as it was later to be called, were those who had won their freedom only recently. Jawaharlal Nehru, then Prime Minister of Independent India, dominated the session. It was here he articulated once again his famous doctrine of bansheel, his mantra for world peace. He had delved deep into the country's civilization to find this word. It was coined from Buddhist precepts, the noble five-fold path. After Bandung, Nehru gained recognition as a statesman and front-runner of the Afro-Asian world. Nehru's search for a foreign policy converged with his urge to give independent India the security of self-reliance. Only a few years earlier, this mantra of bansheel had been adopted as a preamble in the treaty India had signed with China. These were the heady days of success of Nehru's foreign policy. He straddled the international arena, respected as a statesman and a visionary. By the time the conclave of nations officially formed the non-aligned movement in Belgrade in 1961, Nehru, Nasser of Egypt and Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia were acknowledged as the architects of this unique international diplomatic tool. The foundations of India's foreign policy had however been shaped even before the country had won independence. Nehru and his colleagues saw in the struggles of other nations lessons for themselves. Nehru's worldview was tempered with the struggle of his country's independence. In his long battle against the might of the British Empire, he had experienced firsthand the consequences of colonialism. But to the credit of Nehru and his colleagues, in spite of their battle against the British colonialists, India joined the Commonwealth immediately after becoming a republic. Anti-colonialism and anti-racism were natural corollaries of India's foreign policy. By the time Rajiv Gandhi took over the political leadership, India was in the vanguard of nations, asking for economic sanctions against the regime in South Africa practicing apartheid. In the Commonwealth summit held, Rajiv Gandhi took on the wrath of Margaret Thatcher, then Prime Minister of Great Britain and asked for sanctions against South Africa. Indian foreign policy came under strain after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the propagation of the validity of the Unipolar world theory. There were doubts cast on the validity of the non-aligned movement. But while new opportunities opened, it cannot be said that tensions in the world have lessened. Aggressive and exclusivist sentiments continue to tear apart social fabrics built laboriously over centuries with disastrous consequences for development, peace and security. India has taken major initiatives in strengthening bilateral relations with its neighbors, both individually and within the framework of SAAC, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. It has consolidated its ties with ASEAN nations and has expanded its economic links with countries of the Indian Ocean Rim. Five decades after independence, the principles of Indian foreign policy remain relevant to the needs of the nation and India continues to speak up for the developing and underdeveloped countries.