Inder Kumar Gujral
Full Form of IKG
What is IKG?
Inder Kumar Gujral (IKG) was the 12th Prime Minister of India, serving from April 1997 to November 1998. A member of the Janata Dal, he is best remembered for the 'Gujral Doctrine', a foreign policy framework that emphasized unilateral goodwill and cooperation with India's immediate neighbours, especially Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. His brief tenure saw efforts to strengthen regional ties and pursue a non-confrontational approach in South Asia. Before becoming Prime Minister, Gujral held several key portfolios including External Affairs, Communications, and Information and Broadcasting. He also served as India's Ambassador to the Soviet Union. The acronym IKG is widely used in political science textbooks, UPSC preparation materials, and discussions on India's foreign policy evolution. His name is also immortalised in the I.K. Gujral Punjab Technical University (IKG PTU), a prominent state technical university in Punjab, which students often encounter in engineering and management admissions. For competitive exams like UPSC, knowledge of IKG and the Gujral Doctrine is essential for the International Relations segment. Overall, IKG represents a distinct period of coalition politics and neighbourly diplomacy in post-Cold War India.
IKG का फुल फॉर्म
इंदर कुमार गुजराल
Example
In UPSC mains, questions often ask how IKG's Gujral Doctrine shaped India's relationship with smaller South Asian nations.