| Summary/Abstract |
Analysing Indian protagonists’ strategies at the 15th World Vegetarian Congress in India in 1957, this article argues that they brought together Hindu nationalism and internationalism. By constructing non-violence and vegetarianism as a national heritage, they characterised India as a moral superpower above the divisions of the Cold War and endowed it with a global civilising mission. On the other hand, they tried to win international support to influence the politics of the Indian government, opposing parts of the Five-Year Plans and Nehru’s politics of secularism. Moreover, by insisting on India as a vegetarian country, they erased Islam from Indian history.
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