The Government of India Act of 1919 and Indian participation in the Imperial War Cabinet provide background to India's separate representation. V. S. Srinivasa Sastri brought experience in debate and diplomacy to the delegation. His approach is described as gradual nation-building, with a preference for avoiding violence and little personal desire to become a political leader. An independent India would need naval institutions, but the viceroyal government had less incentive to fund them while Britain supplied protection and crews. A large imperial cruiser programme could have created that need: the example imagines four County-class cruisers and four light cruisers, possibly Town-class ships, in Indian service by the Second World War. The light-cruiser type remains an estimate based on the likely timing of procurement. Sastri's diplomatic relationships and the impression his speeches made on American senators are presented as another resource for later Indian leaders.
Notable Point · 2:03:04-2:09:05
Sastri links naval capacity to Indian nation-building
India's delegate treated naval institutions and diplomatic reputation as foundations for a more capable and eventually independent state.