Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru Vol 34: Volume 34 - Tapa dura

Reseña del editor

In this volume, which covers the period from 21 June to 31 August 1956, Jawaharlal Nehru devotes a great deal of attention to the crisis over the nationalization of the Suez Canal and to other national and internatiional issues. During the Suez crisis, Nehru not only acted in unison with the other key players in the non-aligned movement, but he also positioned India as a key player in world affairs. Nehru s main aim was to see how best India could serve the cause of averting conflict and obtain a peaceful settlement of the dispute. Time and again the Prime Minister talked of self-sufficiency in food and grains as a major target. While agriculture continued to receive priority, the main feature in the Second Five Year Plan was the expansion of heavy industries. Nehru announced at the Commonwealth Prime Minsters Conference in London that his government planned an increase in steel production from about 1.5 million tons to 6 million tons a year. This volume illustates how natio nal unity was a key phrase in Nehru s vocabulary. To preserve that ideal, Parliament adopted the States Reorganization Bill, an extraordinary culmination of the fierce and angry debates and all the upheavals and riots that had taken place during the past many months.