Toward a Better Future

Abstract

In late 1949, as the Human Rights Commission began to deal with a covenant of Human Rights in earnest, Nehru made a trip to the United States, accompanied by his daughter and future prime minister, Indira, and his sister, Madame Pandit, now India’s ambassador to Washington. Up until early that year, Madame Pandit had been serving as ambassador to Moscow, though Gandhi had informed her shortly before he died in January 1948 that she would soon be transferred to the United States.1 Pandit’s position in the capitals of the two superpowers reflected the signal importance that Nehru attached to bridging relations between the two sides of the world. Pandit’s diplomatic and debating skills were unmatched, and she enjoyed a reputation on the international stage that was equally unparalleled. Her appointments were meant to reflect the status that India accorded both the Soviet Union and America: it held them in comparably high regard. This was, of course, a political move as much as anything else, since the point was to build trust among foes.