New Delhi, Mar 18 (PTI) Former vice president M Hamid Ansari on Wednesday said India has made progress on justice, liberty and equality over the last 75 years but has “singularly failed” to advance the constitutional ideal of fraternity, warning that the gap is affecting both domestic cohesion and foreign policy.
Ansari was speaking at an event to launch a “foreign policy manifesto” titled “India’s Tryst With the World”, edited by Salman Khurshid and Salil Shetty.
Referring to Jawaharlal Nehru’s “tryst with destiny” speech on August 15, 1947, Ansari said the commitment was not only to India but “to humanity at large”, forming the foundation of the Indian state.
“When it came to writing the Constitution, the Preamble laid out four principles — justice, equality, liberty and fraternity. In the last 75 years, we have moved in some measure towards the first three, but one area where we have singularly failed is fraternity,” he said.
Explaining the concept, Ansari said fraternity in simple terms means a sense of brotherhood and social vitality, but noted the absence of any serious articulation of how the State promotes it. “Because the State does not commit itself, the public does not commit itself,” he observed.
Ansari cautioned that without nurturing fraternity in everyday life, broader social and policy goals would remain “unfinished”.
He lamented the erosion of interpersonal ties, saying friendships and neighbourly relations are weakening across the society.
“We do not practise fraternity and because we do not practise it, we are not able meaningfully to preach it to the world outside,” he said.
Linking the issue to foreign policy, Ansari questioned India’s neighbourhood ties. “Do we have good relations with our neighbours? If we do not, how do we expect to have relations with distant countries?” he asked, stressing the need to “return to fundamentals”.
“Justice is important, equality is important, but fraternity is equally important. That is what we need to do,” he added.
Expressing concern over India’s global image, Ansari said the country can no longer claim to be a model for the world if it fails to uphold its foundational values.
Participating in a discussion on the book earlier, Khurshid said people are anticipating a changing world order, adding that it is a big question where India stands.
Retired diplomat Shivshankar Menon said people are increasingly coming to the conclusion that they are living in a “world of disorder”.
“But should we worry about it? The hegemon would have you believe that you need the order, that you need a hegemon, that you need a hierarchy, that you should know your place, that it is essential. But for most of history, we have not had a world order. Nobody has actually organised the world into an order…. The norm in history is no order,” Menon said.
Former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief A S Dulat said sometimes he wonders what is India’s foreign policy.
“What was our policy on Afghanistan? Our policy was the US policy,” he said.
Dulat also stressed that India needs to at least hold talks with neighbour Pakistan.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate talked about the impact of the disturbance in West Asia on India’s economy and said 22 Indian ships are still stranded in the Strait of Hormuz.
“And this from a longstanding ally, because you have chosen to suddenly choose a new fatherland called Israel,” she said. PTI AO RC
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