Topic: Nehru’s India in Asia and Beyond

Date: November 10, 2025

Time: 17:30-18:45 (Shanghai Time)

Venue: E403, NYU Shanghai, New Bund Campus

or via zoom: 99880591236

Scholars of international relations, political thought, and India’s diplomatic history continue to debate the meaning and relevance of non-alignment in India’s foreign policy today. The origins of these debates lie in Jawaharlal Nehru’s articulation of non-alignment at the height of the Cold War, a concept both resolute and ambiguous.

In this talk, Dr. Swapna Kona Nayudu will draw on her acclaimed book, The Nehru Years: An International History of Indian Non-Alignment (Cambridge University Press UK), to explore how India’s approach to international aLairs and the United Nations now understood in summary as non-alignment carved India’s place in the world. Tracing the evolution of non-alignment from Nehru’s time to the present, Dr. Kona Nayudu will examine its contested meaning and its influence on India’s position as the only non-aligned founding member of the UN. Based on meticulous archival research in multiple languages, her work uncovers India’s diplomatic and peacekeeping contributions in pivotal global events such as the Korean War, the Suez Crisis, the Hungarian Revolution, and the Congo Crisis.

国际关系、政治思想、与印度外交史领域的学者们至今仍在探讨“不结盟”原则在当代印度外交中的意涵与现实关联。这场争论的源头，可追溯至冷战巅峰时期贾瓦哈拉尔·尼赫鲁所提出的“不结盟”理念——一个立场坚定却又内涵模糊的概念。

本次讲座中，Swapna Kona Nayudu博士将以其广受好评的新著《尼赫鲁年代：印度不结盟的国际史》（英国剑桥大学出版社）为基础，深入探讨印度在国际事务及联合国体系中的独特定位——即后来被概括为“不结盟”的外交取向。她将梳理“不结盟”理念从尼赫鲁时代至今的演变脉络，剖析其复杂且多义的意涵，并阐释这一理念如何塑造了印度作为联合国唯一不结盟创始成员国的国际角色。通过对多语种档案的细致研究，她的著作揭示了印度在朝鲜战争、苏伊士危机、匈牙利革命以及刚果危机等多场关键国际事件中所做出的外交与维和贡献。

Dr. Swapna Kona Nayudu FRHistS is Principal Research Fellow, Global Asia Initiative at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Dr. Kona Nayudu is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and serves on the Advisory Council of Harvard University’s Centre for Global Political Thought. Her first book The Nehru Years: An International History of Indian Non-Alignment was published by Cambridge University Press, UK in 2025.

Swapna Kona Nayudu博士，英国皇家历史学会会士，现任新加坡南洋理工大学“全球亚洲倡议”首席研究员。她同时兼任哈佛大学全球政治思想中心咨询委员会成员。其首部专著《尼赫鲁年代：印度不结盟的国际史》已于2025年由英国剑桥大学出版社出版。

本次英文讲座面向公众开放，可线下参与或通过zoom加入。请于11月9日下午5点前完成报名，报名链接：https://cga.shanghai.nyu.edu/nehrus-india-in-asia-and-beyond/?sessionid=。我们将在审核通过后发送确认邮件，请留意您的邮箱。