Ideas Matter: Explaining India’s Principles-Based Peacemaking Role in the Korean War

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

During the Korean War, major powers such as the United States, Soviet Union, and China were solely driven by their own security interests. Consequently, their policies towards the crisis prioritized their own security and power maximization, leading to their alignment with one side and intensifying the conflict. While the United States sided with the South, China and the Soviet Union sided with the North. In contrast, India took a unique approach during the Korean War. India, which was heavily involved in the crisis as a proactive peacemaker, adopted a stance based on morality, neutrality, and favorability towards the Korean people.
This approach was very different from the major powers who were focused on their security and power interests. The question that arises is: why did India take a different stance than other major powers? What explains India’s role as a peacemaker that focused on morality and neutrality in the Korean War when other major powers were focused on power and security maximization? To answer these questions, I draw on the existing literature that suggests the ideas generated domestically can profoundly impact foreign policy. Based on this, I argue that India’s active role in seeking peace during the Korean War and its unique approach to resolving the Korean crisis was largely influenced by principled ideas such as non-interference, neutrality, rejection of power politics, and Asian unity rooted in its historical experience during the independence movement. To evaluate my argument, I employ four case studies related to India’s involvement in the Korean War and demonstrate how the principled ideas discussed above influenced India’s active but neutral and unbiased peacemaking role in resolving the Korean question at a time when major powers’ security maximization actions were intensifying the crisis.

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