The aftermath of the Emergency, imposed by the Congress government led by Indira Gandhi, saw the opposition coming to power for the first time in independent India's history. Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress prime minister
Vajpayee was his foreign minister. As foreign minister he acquired a reputation for discretion and dependability. His diplomatic style carried credibility in neighbouring countries. Exhibiting signs of statesmanship, he affirmed India's commitment to non-alignment, a path evolved by Nehru and pursued by successive Congress governments.
During his tenure he visited Pakistan, where the reception was not particularly warm. Vajpayee met the Pakistan government's apparent coldness by mingling with the media and talking to them in chaste Urdu. Soon he was the darling of the Pakistani media.
On a visit to India in 1991, then Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharief said: "Mr Vajpayee, I have not met you before. But I have no hesitation saying that Pakistan's relations with India have never been as warm and cordial as they were when you were your country's foreign minister."
Prime Minister Morarji Desai and Vajpayee at the New Delhi airport on their way to London to attend the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference in 1977.