The Lal Bahadur Shastri Years and the Indo-Pak War of 1965
Modern History › India After Nehru · Topic 32.1
Lal Bahadur Shastri became Prime Minister on 9 June 1964, chosen by the party's Syndicate after Nehru's death. His short term faced anti-Hindi agitation in Madras, food shortages and the second war with Pakistan in 1965. He laid foundations for the Green Revolution and the White Revolution, gave the slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan, and signed the Tashkent Declaration on 10 January 1966, dying the next day.
9 min read · UPSC Prelims · History · India After Nehru
At a Glance
- Tenure 9 June 1964 to 11 January 1966
- Chosen by The Syndicate led by K. Kamaraj, over Morarji Desai
- War September 1965; ceasefire 23 September
- Tashkent Declaration 10 January 1966; Shastri died the next day
- Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: India After Nehru
Where Does It Fit?
This is the first topic of the category on India after Nehru. The previous topic covered India’s smaller neighbours in the Nehru years and ended the category on the Nehru era. This topic covers Shastri’s prime ministership and the war of 1965. The next topic covers Indira Gandhi’s first phase, 1966-77. Previous topic: India and Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
How Was Shastri Chosen?
In the last years of Nehru’s prime ministership there were serious debates about what would follow him, and when he died in May 1964 many in India and abroad expected the political system to be badly affected or even to collapse in a fight within the Congress. No such turmoil came and a smooth succession took place. Gulzarilal Nanda was appointed interim Prime Minister. It is generally accepted that a group within the Congress formed in 1963, called the Syndicate, which included the party president K. Kamaraj, guided the choice between Morarji Desai and Lal Bahadur Shastri. Desai was senior and known for administrative skill and honesty but thought conservative and rigid; Shastri was seen as mild, soft-spoken and flexible, a man of integrity, with wider support in the party, and Desai decided not to contest. The Nehru years are in Debate Over the National Language and the other topics of that category.
Shastri was born on 2 October 1904 in the United Provinces, dropped his caste surname Srivastava, and got the title Shastri on graduating from Kashi Vidyapeeth in 1928. He took part in the Khilafat Committee Congress approval Special session at Calcutta, September 1920 Nagpur session…">Non-Cooperation Movement, the Salt Satyagraha, the individual satyagraha and Quit India, and was jailed several times. After independence he served as a minister in Uttar Pradesh, general secretary of the AICC in 1951, railway minister until he resigned in 1956 taking moral responsibility for a rail accident, and home minister in 1961, when he formed the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption, which led to the Central Vigilance Commission. He was sworn in as the second Prime Minister on 9 June 1964, keeping external affairs and atomic energy before passing external affairs to Swaran Singh. He drew Indira Gandhi into the cabinet as minister for information and broadcasting, and he appointed L.K. Jha as the first secretary to the Prime Minister, a forerunner of the Prime Minister’s Office.
What Crises Did He Face and What Did He Do for the Economy?
Three major crises marked his term: violent anti-Hindi demonstrations in Madras state, widespread food shortages and the war with Pakistan. In 1965 protests in the non-Hindi states against a possible imposition of Hindi were especially violent in Madras, with student agitation and riots, and the army had to be called in at places. Shastri restored peace by assuring that English would continue as the official language as long as the non-Hindi states wanted, a promise written into law later, as in Debate Over the National Language.
| Area | Step under Shastri |
|---|---|
| Planning | Moved decisions on projects from the Planning Commission to economic ministries; proposed a national planning council; announced a review of controls in 1965, with some relaxation for steel and cement |
| Green Revolution | With food minister C. Subramaniam, he supported the new high-yielding wheat; the Indian Council of Agricultural Research was reorganised under the scientist B.P. Pal; M.S. Swaminathan drew attention to Norman Borlaug’s Mexican wheat; he approved the import of 250 tonnes of seed in 1965; the Subramaniam-Freeman accord of November 1965 at Rome committed India to end food-grain imports by 1971 |
| Incentives | Agricultural Prices Commission and Food Corporation of India in January 1965; National Seeds Corporation and Central Warehousing Corporation around the same time |
| White Revolution | After visiting Amul at Anand in October 1964, he backed the idea of dairy cooperatives; the National Dairy Development Board was set up at Anand in 1965 under Verghese Kurien |
| Slogan and appeal | Jai Jawan Jai Kisan linked the soldier’s security with the farmer’s food production; he asked people to give up one meal a week, first trying it in his own family |
The Green Revolution’s fruits are in Indira Gandhi, 1966-77: Political Developments and Socio-Economic Policies. P.N. Dhar’s view is that Shastri might have pursued an agenda of economic reform of the kind taken up only twenty-five years later under Narasimha Rao, as in The Narasimha Rao Years: Economic Reform and Panchayati Raj.
How Did the War of 1965 Begin and End?
General Ayub Khan had come to power in Pakistan through a coup in 1958, and the United States gave Pakistan considerable military support. After the war with China in 1962, which left the Indian forces demoralised, Ayub Khan probably thought it right to test the Indian forces. In April 1965 Pakistan tested India in the Rann of Kutch in Sindh, and at Britain’s intervention both sides agreed to a ceasefire and withdrawal to earlier positions. Then, counting on weakness in the army and on unrest in the Kashmir valley, Pakistan planned an attack in Kashmir. Well-trained infiltrators were sent into the valley in August to rouse an uprising, followed by Operation Grand Slam to cut the one major overland route into Kashmir. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s foreign minister, encouraged Ayub Khan. Pakistan said there was a spontaneous uprising, while India said Pakistan had sent armed raiders from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Shastri declared that force would be met with force, and ordered the army to cross the ceasefire line and close the passes used by the infiltrators. By early September the second Indo-Pakistan war had begun. In September Indian forces launched a three-pronged attack with tanks towards Lahore and Sialkot, and the Indian Air Force took part in a war for the first time since independence. Defence minister Y.B. Chavan did well. The United Nations intervened and a ceasefire took effect on 23 September 1965. The earlier war in Kashmir is in India and Pakistan, 1947-64, and the war with China is in Panchsheel agreement 1954 Asylum Dalai Lama…">India and China, 1947-62. During the war US President Lyndon Johnson warned that wheat supplies under PL-480 might stop; Shastri’s reply was that India might go hungry but would not bow before the United States.
What Did the Tashkent Declaration Provide?
A peace conference sponsored by the Soviet leader Alexei Kosygin was held at Tashkent in January 1966, and Ayub Khan and Shastri signed the Tashkent Declaration on 10 January 1966. The main points were these.
| Clause | Content |
|---|---|
| 1 | Good neighbourly relations under the UN Charter, no recourse to force and peaceful settlement of disputes; Jammu and Kashmir was discussed and each side set out its position |
| 2 | Withdrawal of all armed personnel by 25 February 1966 to positions held before 5 August 1965, with the ceasefire terms observed |
| 3-4 | Non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, and discouragement of hostile propaganda |
| 5-6 | Return of high commissioners to their posts, and restoration of economic and trade relations, communications and cultural exchanges |
| 7-9 | Repatriation of prisoners of war, discussion of refugees and the return of property taken in the conflict, and continued meetings at the highest and other levels |
In India, critics said that the agreement should have had a no-war pact and a provision that Pakistan give up guerrilla aggression in Kashmir. In Pakistan it was received angrily, with riots, and Bhutto distanced himself from Ayub Khan and later formed his own party. Early on 11 January Shastri died of a heart attack; some accounts give the year as 1965, but the date was 11 January 1966, the day after the signing. A controversy over the death arose, with rumours of poisoning and of foreign involvement that were never established, and requests for official records under the Right to Information Act were turned down. The same period saw the death of the nuclear scientist Homi Bhabha in an air crash in January 1966, shortly after Shastri had authorised work on a nuclear explosive study, as in Indira Gandhi, 1966-77: Political Developments and Socio-Economic Policies. As an analytical point, the war showed that the 1962 defeat had not permanently weakened the Indian army, but the agreement at Tashkent returned both sides to the positions of before, leaving Kashmir as unsettled as it had been.
What Did He Change in Foreign and Defence Policy?
Shastri made no basic change in non-alignment but, conscious of the 1962 war and of growing military ties between Pakistan and China, increased the defence budget, modernised the armed forces and built closer ties with the Soviet Union. The Bandaranaike-Shastri accord of 1964 with Ceylon dealt with Indian Tamils: it settled the repatriation of 6,00,000 to India and Ceylonese citizenship for 3,75,000, to be done by 1981, but the accord was not fulfilled after his death. He visited Rangoon in December 1965 and restored cordial relations with Burma under General Ne Win. In 1965 he authorised the Atomic Energy Commission to work towards a nuclear test and inaugurated the plutonium reprocessing plant at Trombay, on Bhabha’s suggestion of exploring nuclear explosives for peaceful purposes. The new institutions of his term included the National Institute of Technology at Allahabad and the start of Tuticorin port in November 1964.
Why Is This Topic Important?
- Succession and personalities Syndicate, Kamaraj and Desai are common Prelims facts
- Food and dairy initiatives Origins of the Green and White Revolutions
- War and Tashkent Dates and clauses of the declaration are frequent questions
What Came Next?
The next topic covers Indira Gandhi’s first phase from January 1966 to March 1977. Next topic: Indira Gandhi, 1966-77: Political Developments and Socio-Economic Policies.
Key People and Terms
- Syndicate Group of senior Congress leaders formed in 1963
- Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Shastri’s slogan in the 1965 war
- PL-480 The US food aid agreement
- Operation Grand Slam Pakistan’s operation against the Akhnur route in 1965
- Tashkent Declaration Peace document of 10 January 1966
- National Dairy Development Board Set up at Anand in 1965
Exam Corner
Points to Remember
- Shastri PM from 9 June 1964; died 11 January 1966.
- Chosen over Morarji Desai by the Syndicate.
- Ceasefire 23 September 1965; Tashkent 10 January 1966.
- APC and FCI: January 1965; NDDB: 1965.
- Rome accord: November 1965; end of food imports by 1971.
Do Not Confuse With
- Rann of Kutch clash and the war of September April 1965 border clash versus the full war
- Shastri’s initiatives and Indira’s credit Seeds sown in 1965 and harvests after 1967
- Tashkent and Simla 1966 declaration versus 1972 agreement
Memory Hook
Chosen by the Syndicate, fed by a new wheat, tested by war, and gone at Tashkent.
Mains Angle
Questions ask about the short term and its crises. These points add depth.
- Succession A smooth transfer
- Policy Agriculture and decentralisation
- War Decisive response and a negotiated end
A Question You May Face
An original practice question, not a past paper question.
“Assess the contribution of Lal Bahadur Shastri during his brief tenure as Prime Minister.”
How to Answer
- Context Succession and crises.
- Economy Green and White Revolutions.
- War 1965 and Tashkent.
- Conclude Legacy.
GS Relevance
Frequently Asked Questions
Who chose Shastri as Prime Minister?
A group within the Congress called the Syndicate, formed in 1963 and including the party president K. Kamaraj, guided the succession and favoured Shastri over Morarji Desai, who decided not to contest as Shastri had wider support across the party.
What was Shastri's role in the Green Revolution?
With food minister C. Subramaniam he backed high-yielding wheat, approved the import of 250 tonnes of seed in 1965, reorganised the ICAR under a scientist, and set up the Agricultural Prices Commission and Food Corporation of India in January 1965.
What was Jai Jawan Jai Kisan?
It was Shastri's slogan during the 1965 war with Pakistan, expressing his belief that the security of the nation upheld by the soldier was linked to food security produced by the farmer, who served the nation as the soldier did.
How did the 1965 war with Pakistan end?
After Indian forces crossed the ceasefire line and attacked towards Lahore and Sialkot in September, a UN-brokered ceasefire took effect on 23 September 1965, and the Tashkent Declaration of 10 January 1966 restored the positions held before 5 August 1965.
When did Shastri die and what was disputed about it?
Shastri died of a heart attack on 11 January 1966, the day after signing the Tashkent Declaration, and rumours of poisoning and foreign involvement circulated, which have never been established, though the controversy has continued.
PYQ Practice — Statement Analysis
1 Lal Bahadur Shastri was sworn in as Prime Minister on 9 June 1964.
He was the second Prime Minister.
2 The Tashkent Declaration was signed by Shastri and Ayub Khan.
Alexei Kosygin mediated.
3 The National Dairy Development Board was established at Anand in 1965.
Verghese Kurien's Amul inspired it.
4 The ceasefire of the 1965 war took effect on 23 September 1965.
The UN intervened.
5 Shastri defeated Morarji Desai in a contested vote to become leader.
Desai decided not to contest.
Related Topics
Browse the full Modern History index