The other reason for his taking a sustained interest in promoting economic relations with the socialist countries was even more fundamental. During the post World War II period, by and large, the basic attitude of the advanced countries was to lay stress on a programme of rising exports of primary commodities from the developing countries and, in return, to continue exporting to them sophisticated industrial goods. In this kind of arrangement, the dice is permanently loaded against the developing countries, in terms of trade moving against them. The result is lop-sided development, and the point of self-sufficiency becomes a will-o% the-wisp. The era of imperialism had formally ended, but old ideas and attitudes obviously persisted. Jawaharlalji saw through all this. His keenness to develop trade and economic relationships with socialist countries was thus as much influenced by a desire to reap to the full the advantages of international division of labour, as by the realisation that India and the other poorer countries must earn for themselves a place in the sun and must be helped to take their rightful place as equal partners in the world community. Without for one moment belittling the values basic to the free economic system of the West, he perceived the gains that could accrue in the wake of the enlargement of activities with all nations irrespective of ideology. There was here a fusion of the predilections of Nehru the socialist and those of Nehru the practical nationalist. National interest, which in this particular instance was to optimise the country's economic benefits coincided with his basic socialist convictions : first we must learn from the socialist countries the tenets of efficient national planning, and, second, in order to get the maximum advantage out of foreign trade, we must enter into the closest possible trade and economic relationships with them.
In this seminar, in the course of today and tomorrow, you will be reviewing and analysing the fruits born as a result of Nehru's imagination and visions. You will, I am sure, also be discussing some of the outstanding problems in expanding further the kind of economic relationships Jawaharlalji had in mind. As we take stock of the economic progress which has occurred during the past two decades, a sense of achievement inevitably dominates the emotions. We are proud that Jawaharlalji's vision in fostering economic relationships with East Europe has contributed so significantly to the development of a self-sufficient industrial structure. I would not for a moment say that we have been able to solve all our trade and industrial problems, or that there is no further scope for improvement.
