Dr Rajkumar Singh
TODAY, India- China political relations are at crossroad. With both of them is the same problem- how to move forward and make understandings stable. National interests apart, regional and global factors are determining their course of events and their sweet relations are turning into sour for no fault of them. They both are targeted by powers outside the region and performing a role opposite to their national interests. Although, they both are great powers of Asia and their economy and military power, if united, can compete with any power or even superpower of the world, yet gradually they both have become enemy for each other and their political understandings are widening day-by-day. Not to talk of economic and cultural relations in the ancient and middle ages, their relations after India’s independence in 1947 and establishment of Communist rule in China on 1 October 1949, both started their political relations on a very happy note. It was based on the principles of “Panchsheel” and slogan with ‘Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai”. In this period their understandings went beyond national boundaries and they cooperated each other on several international issues. However, this honeymoon phase was very short and bickering between the two on Tibet in 1958-1959 and India giving political asylum to Dalai Lama made their relations sour to a large extent leading to the differences on border problem and ultimately to declared war in October 1962 which went in favour of China. It locked their diplomatic relations for 14 years and at ambassadorial level revived in April 1976. On the issue of border their claims and counterclaims are still alive and the incident of Galwan Valley recently in May-June 2020,is an indication of tough times ahead between the two countries.
Early friendship and misunderstandings: Despite differences in political and economic systems of the countries the bond between them was of neighbourhood and Asianness, and it was this spirit that pushed them forward to work together at world level and in various international fora. In modern times the diplomatic relations between the two was started on 1 April 1950, but earlier with its establishment in October 1949, India was the first country to recognize the PRC ending its relations with the Republic of China, also called Taiwan or Formosa. So far as the matter about Tibet was concerned China always considered Tibet as an integral part of PRC. The government headed by Chiang Kai-shek also claimed earlier over Tibet but it was unable to re-assert its control. In the context, the Indian concern on Tibet was considered by China as an interference in internal matter of China and so Indian action annoyed PRC. Although, India’s Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made it clear that India had no any territorial or political ambitions in Tibet, but it simply wants to retain its traditional rights enjoyed earlier or during the British period. At India’s initiative the Tibetan delegation also signed an agreement in 1951 in Tibet accepted Chinese sovereignty over Tibet but became assured that the existing political and social systems of Tibet would remain intact.
Signing of Panchsheel and thereafter: In April 1954, India and China signed an eight year agreement on Tibet later to be known as Panchsheel or Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence. Later this year in October 1954 the two countries also signed a trade agreement which heavily favoured China. Around the time and thereafter there was an exchange of culture and literature between the peoples of both countries. However, border problem between the two arose when in 1954 India published its new map and showed the Aksai Chin in its region and it was also discovered that China had built a road in the region. Further, in a fresh dispute, in January 1959 the PRC wrote to Nehru that no government in China had accepted the McMahon Line as legal which the Simla Convention had defined in eastern sector between India and Tibet. The situation aggravated further in March 1959 when Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal head of Tibet sought sanctuary in Dharmsala, Himachal Pradesh, in India and also formed Tibetan government- in- exile. It hurt China to a large extent and Beijing considered it an open defiance of Panchsheel signed between India and China. It also initiated and developed layers of misconceptions and misunderstandings between the two neighbours forever.
Developments amid mistrust and confusion: Although, the immediate effect of this misunderstanding and enmity was the outbreak of declared war between the two in October 1962, but for a long time and till date there has been a series of skirmishes on border and fatalities on both sides. After a break of long fourteen years their relations revived in 1976 and border talks between the two initiated in 1981-1982 first at Foreign Secretary level. For the next level of talks they formulated Joint Working Group which lasted till 2003. From 2003 onwards, it is done at the level of Special Representatives and still continuing in that way. The recent Galwan Valley violent incident was next to the War of 1962, but it had plagued the whole gamut of India-China relations in a big way and hampered the normal growth of relations between the two neighbours. In a significant development in August 1971 when India signed a Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation with the [former] Soviet Union with an earlier mutual understanding China sided with Pakistan. In today’s context they have made an anti-India front which is posing more hurdles and challenges before the Indian security and diplomatic fronts.
— The writer is Professor and Head, P G Department of Political Science, Bihar, India.
