domestic politics 147Vatri of Saudi Arabia.^23 During the critical years between 1940 and 1946,
he functioned as president of the Congress Party. Following India’s in de-
pen dence, he became a key member of the Indian cabinet and, despite
strong objections from the Mahatma, Prime Minister Nehru made Azad
his education minister. While never formally in charge of foreign af-
fairs,^24 he greatly infl uenced Nehru’s policy toward the Middle East. De-
spite the obvious familial bias, Heptulla is accurate when she observed
that in the formulation of India’s Middle East policy, “Nehru was no doubt
infl uenced by... Azad. Azad’s contribution helped India to formulate
a... policy which has withstood the test of time and besides standing
fi rm behind the Palestinian cause helped develop friendly and cooperative
relationship with the countries” of the region.^25 For example, in March
1948, when the question of opening an Indian legation in Saudi Arabia
was being considered, Nehru advised the foreign offi ce to consult Azad.^26
In fact, during Nehru’s periodic foreign visits, “matters relating to Exter-
nal Aff airs were referred to Maulana Azad.”^27
Many regard Azad as Nehru’s adviser on Arab and Islamic aff airs.^28
Although Azad’s expertise and knowledge of the region is indisputable,
describing him as Nehru’s Arab adviser is problematic. The Arab factor
was relevant for Israel but its overall impact upon India’s foreign policy
was rather marginal. When Azad passed away in 1958, there were only a
handful of sovereign Arab states, and with the exception of post- 1952
Egypt, most of them lacked any regional, let alone international, infl u-
ence. Vast areas of the Arab world were still under direct or indirect con-
trol of the Western powers. The petroleum resources of the region were
marginal and controlled, exploited, and exported by the Western “Seven
Sisters.” Thus calling Azad an adviser on a region of such marginal im-
portance seems farfetched. It would be more appropriate to describe him
as Nehru’s adviser on Muslim rather than Arab aff airs.^29 But recognizing
him as an adviser on Muslim, rather than Arab, aff airs would not be con-
sidered “secular,” thus the title “Arab adviser.”
There are two interesting interpretations of Azad’s role regarding
Israel. According to one Israeli document, he was not hostile toward the
establishment of relations. Nehru’s biographer Michael Brecher, on the
other hand, holds Azad singularly responsible for the absence of diplo-
matic relations.
Eliahu Sasson, the Israeli emissary in Ankara, had a lengthy meeting
with Azad when the Indian leader visited Turkey in 1951. Sasson observed
in his report: