________________
184
Multi-dimensional Application of Anekāntavāda
Capitalism and Communism. The policy of non-alignment as conceived by Pt. Nehru has been consistent with India's foreign policy over the years. When the whole world was divided into two blocs - one led by the United States of America and the other led by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - India chose to remain equidistant and natural towards both the blocs. When the whole world was waging a cold war, which threatened to break or culminate into a hot war at any moment, India chose not to remain aloof but to remain non-aligned to either side. India instead of being non-aligned, if it had chosen to be aligned with one of the powers then it would have been against the concept of Anekāntavāda. Neither U.S.A. nor Soviet Russia symbolised the whole of reality, the whole of truth. So, we would not have been able to justify ourselves to be aligned with one of them. To be aligned with one of the super powers would have amounted to accepting the ideology of that super power as complete and perfect, which would have been in consonance with the concept of Ekantavāda. Hence, India did the right thing from an anekantist point of view in openly accepting the merits from all sides and co-operating with either bloc in accordance with the concept of anekāntavāda. India's Policy of non-alignment in the field of international relations is based on the concept of anekānta to such a degree that it can be said that non-alignment is nothing but anekāntavāda.
Today the complicated world is full of conflicts. In this complex world, one-dimensional solution will not work. The solutions to conflicts will also be as complicated as conflicts themselves. These conflicts are to be solved in accordance with the concept of non-violence and peace. It is not possible to arrive at solutions for these international conflicts through aggression, threats and war, because in this complicated world everything is interrelated in some way or other. The foreign aid to country ‘A’ related to its economy which again related to the internal situation in some other country 'B' which again related to its relations with some other country 'C' and which in true related to its voting pattern in the U.N. and so on and so forth. Therefore, if a war breaks down in one of the major conflicts then it will be not wrong to except it to turn into a world war and it will be a matter of
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org