Having jointly enunciated the Five Principles of Co-existence called “Panchsheel”in 1954, India and China are expected to abide by them. But hopes about this remain unfulfilled because of an unending series of geopolitical, military and economic conflicts.
In the seven decades after the independence of India in 1947 and after the founding of the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, relations between India and China have been under constant strain but for a few years in the 1950s, when the cry “Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai” resounded in the two countries.
Firstly, the strain was over a dispute about the status of Tibet. And then arose disagreements over the 2,100-mile long Sino-Indian border leading to a hot war in 1962. In more recent times, the two countries have been locking horns over the border and geopolitical issues.
While China claimed sovereignty over Tibet, India wanted Tibet to be an independent buffer State. Both sides claimed the support of history. Complicating the situation was the rivalry between India and China over the leadership of post-war/post-colonial Asia.However, neither Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru nor the Chinese supremo, Mao Zedong, wanted the conflict to continue.
According to India’s former President K.R.Narayanan, a framework for bilateral negotiations was suggested by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in the form of the “Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence”at the India-China talks on Tibet in 1954.Subsequently, these five principles came to be known as “Panchsheel”, a Hindi term based on the Buddhistconcept of “Pañca-sila” or the five virtues for right living.
In an international relations context, the five principle were stated as: (1) Mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty (2)Non-aggression (3) Non-interference in each other’s internal affairs (4)Equality and mutual benefit (5) Peaceful co-existence.
Narayanan recalled that the leader of the Indian delegation welcomed the Zhou’s Five Principles and suggested that they should be incorporated in the preamble of the agreement on Trade and Intercourse between India on Tibet. Thus, “Panchsheel” appeared in a document on international relations for the first time on April 29, 1954.
India’s Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru welcomed “Panchsheel” enthusiastically, pointing out that it was an ancient Indian phrase that the Buddha had used in a moral context. Nehru noted that the phrase was adopted by the Indonesian Government and that when he heard it in Indonesia it struck him as a happy one, which he thought was of great importance to the world.
In China, the idea of the Five Principles could be traced back to ancient times. The great Chinese philosopher, Confucius, spoke of harmony in the midst of differences and outlined certain ethical principles of human conduct, Narayanan pointed out.
“Thus it might be said that the Five Principles arose from the civilisational matrix of Asia and was a new and creative contribution to the theory and practice of international relations,” he added.
The Five Principles came to be accepted almost universally by countries and finally by the UN. The Asian-African conference held in Bandung in 1955 accepted the Five Principles, and expanded them to ten (The Ten Principles of Bandung). The Conference of Non-aligned nations in Belgrade accepted them as a set of core principles behind the non-aligned movement which came into being in the 1960s.
“India and China, being co-originators of Panchsheel, it is our internationalist duty to march forward, revitalise our friendly relationship, and project the Five Principles for the peace, progress, and stability of the world,” Narayanan told a conference on the principles in Beijing on July 20, 2024.
Crash and Revival
Despite the promising start, Panchsheelcrashed when China militarily took over Tibet in 1959. Its temporal and spiritual ruler, the Dalai Lama, denounced as a splitter by Beijing, fled to India. The Sino-India border war followed in 1962 to destroy what was left of Panchsheel.
Over time, India and China kept moving apart, becoming rivals and antagonists in regional and global politics.
Be that as it may, references to Panchsheelkept popping up periodically. It would be invoked whenever there were moves to improve bilateral ties. Current Chinese President, Xi Jingping, especially, keeps referring to the “Five Principles” wanting to use it to develop cooperative relations across Asia.
Xi has been celebrating Panchsheel’s landmark anniversaries. On June 28, he celebrated its 70th anniversary by organising an international conference in Beijing. Many former foreign leaders, representatives of international and regional organisations, envoys from more than 100 countries and expertsattended.
Noting that the “Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence” have transcended time and space and overcome estrangements over the past 70 years, Xi said that the Five Principles have become open, inclusive, and universally applicable as basic norms for international relations.
Though he did not use the word Panchsheel, Xi said that the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence enabled countries with different social systems to co-exist and cooperate for the common good. These principles were useful for protecting the interests and pursuits of small and weak countries in the face of international politics and the hegemony of some.
He further said that China has answered the call of the times by proposing a world community with a shared future operating according to the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence.
“At this historic moment when mankind has to choose between peace and war, prosperity and recession, unity and confrontation, we must champion more than ever the essence of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence,” Xi intoned.
He called on the world to uphold the principle of sovereign equality, unite all forces to achieve prosperity, commit itself to fairness and justice, and embrace an open and inclusive mind-set.
Of all the forces in the world, the Global South should stand out with a strong momentum, playing a vital role in promoting human progress, Xi said,
Xi’s Eight Initiatives
For enhance South-South links, Xi announced eight initiatives covering personnel training, youth improvement, economic development, free trade, agriculture, digital economy and green ecology.
Under the initiatives, China would set up a Global South Research Centre and 1,000 scholarships under the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Scholarship of Excellence and 100,000 training opportunities to Global South countries will be provided in the coming five years.
The Global South, Xi added, should actively participate in reforming and developing the global governance system and make the global governance architecture more balanced and effective.
“Our goal is that international rules should be made and observed by all countries. World affairs should be handled through extensive consultation, not dictated by those with more muscle,” he said.
Sino-Indian Relations
Despite Panchsheel, India-China relations remain frozen because of conflicts. In Eastern Ladakh there was a serious standoff in April 2020. India and China have had several rounds of diplomatic and military level meetings on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but with little or no effect.
India has maintained that there cannot be restoration of normalcy in its relations with China as long as the situation on the border remains abnormal. While India recognises China’s sovereignty over Tibet (though giving shelter to the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on humanitarian grounds) China continues to claim the Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh calling it “Southern Tibet”.
China holds several thousand square kilometres of Indian territory in Ladakh, tries to encroach on India’s sphere of influence in South Asia and gives unstinted support India’s arch rival, Pakistan.
China keeps pressing India to delink the border issue and foster economic ties, pointing out to the burgeoning bilateral trade, which touchedUS$ 118.4 billion this year .
Despite that growing trade, India is unwilling to improve tries insisting that China should observe the 1993 agreement on the management of the border, a pact which ensured peace till 2020. But there is no indication that China is ready to do so.
