Indo-Finnish Relationship in a Historical Perspective: Indian Responses to the Winter War 1939–40 and the Continuation War 1941–44

This article highlights India’s evolving nationalist foreign policy through its views on Finland. Using Indian English-language newspapers, writings from Freedom Movement leaders and British Indian civil service reports, it explores the relationship between India and Finland from 1939 to 1945. Despite geographical and political distance, both nations shared aspirations for freedom from foreign rule during a transformative period in global politics. Indian independence efforts ranged from constitutional methods to armed and revolutionary struggles. Foreign political ideas of the Indian independence movement were generally evolving during the 1930s and 1940s. Nationalist leaders—Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose—held different positions on Finland. Indian nationalists' engagement in the anti-imperialist movement shaped their perspectives on the Soviet Union and Finland. In addition, Indian positioning towards rising military blocks in Europe had an impact on its positions on Finland. This article sheds light on an under-researched aspect of India’s independence movement—the relationship between India and Finland. Their interactions during World War II reflected broader ideological influences, including nationalism, socialism and anti-imperialism. Moreover, India’s position on Finland anticipated its future foreign policy, emphasizing non-alignment, which later became a cornerstone of the future foreign policy of independent India.