India was granted unconditional original membership of the League of Nations despite its position as part of the British Empire, and lack of political autonomy at the time. The inclusion was widely considered to be part of an attempt by Britain to influence more votes in the League, but can also be considered ‘an important event full of far-reaching consequences. It resulted in a remarkable spurt of activities in both national and international spheres and gave India an opportunity to develop her international personality’ (Verma, ix).

The roots of this decision lie in India’s involvement in World War I, and independent representation at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. Arguably, this participation had its roots in India’s place in the Colonial Conferences and the Imperial Conferences. In March 1917 at the Imperial War Cabinet, India was represented by her Secretary of State, Edwin Samuel Montagu; the Maharaja of Bikaner Sir Ganga Singh; Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for India; and James Meston, former Lieutenant-Governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Montagu, Singh and Sinha were also included in the Indian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. Also included as technical advisers were: Arthur Hirtzel, Assistant Under-Secretary of State for India; J. Dunlop Smith, Political Officer of the India Office; and L. Kershaw, Secretary to the Financial and Statistical Section of the India Office. The Indian plenipotentiaries signed the peace treaties alongside representatives of other sovereign states on the basis of legal equality of status. As a signatory of the Treaty of Versailles, India was granted automatic entry to the League of Nations.

The League of Nations was an attempt to unify the countries of the world against the possibility of future war. In its Covenant’s ‘Preamble’ is written: ‘The High Contracting Parties in order to promote international co-operation and to achieve international peace and security; by the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war… agree to this covenant of the League of Nations.’ Its members were originally to be restricted to those countries which were ‘self-governing’, but exception was made for India on account of its immense contribution to the Allied forces during WWI. Woodrow Wilson was concerned about how other territories would respond to India’s inclusion, but delegates including the Prime Minister of South Africa pointed out that the Covenant of the League of Nations, drawn up at Paris and signed by India, guaranteed India entry. India was the only one of the original thirty-one members of the League that was not self-governing. The inclusion of India as original member was one of the reasons why the United States did not ratify the Covenant of the League of Nations.

The delegates of India to the Assembly of the League were appointed by the Secretary of State in consultation with the Government in India. The Indian delegations to the annual sessions of the League Assembly for the first five years of the League were as follows:

First Assembly, December 1920:
Sir William Stevenson Meyer (High Commissioner for India)
Maharaja Jam Saheb of Nawanagar
Sir Saiyid Ali Imam

Second Assembly, September 1921:
Sir William Stevenson Meyer
His Highness the Maharao of Kutch
V. S. Srinivas Sastri

Third Assembly, September 1922:
Viscount Chelmsford
Maharaja Jam Saheb of Nawanagar
Sir P. S. Sivaswamy Aiyer

Fourth Assembly, September 1923:
Lord Hardinge of Penhurst
Maharaja Jam Saheb of Nawanagar
Syed Hossain Imam

Fifth Assembly, September 1924
Lord Hardinge of Penhurst
His Highness the Maharaja of Bikaner
Sir Muhammad Rafique