Partition and Prime Ministership

The British released Nehru from prison after the war was over in Europe, and he immediately began to play a key role in negotiations over the future of India. Initially, he vigorously opposed plans to divide the country along sectarian lines into a predominantlyHindu India and a predominantlyMuslim Pakistan, but when bloody fighting broke out between members of the two religions, he reluctantly agreed to the split.After the Partition of India, Pakistan became an independent nation led by Jinnah on August 14, 1947, and India became independent the following day under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru embraced socialism, and was a leader of the international nonaligned movement during the Cold War, along with Nasser of Egypt and Tito of Yugoslavia.As Prime Minister, Nehru instituted widespread economic and social reforms that helped India reorganized itself as a unified, modernizing state. He was influential in international politics as well, but could never solve the problem of Kashmir and other Himalayan territorial disputes with Pakistan and with China.