China and India share
a very old history and relationship. Throughout the first millennium, they were
the centres of spiritual and religious activities. The two countries suffered
from western colonialism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
However, political contacts between them were few. Culturally, it was mostly
from India to China.
"Maha-Cheena"
and "Cheen-Amshuk" In Kautilya's "Arthashastra" indicated
trade links between Mauryan-India and China. Emperor Harshavardhan sent
representatives to China reciprocated with two missions sent by Tang emperor
Tai-Tsung. Unfortunately, Harshavardhan's successors attacked a Chinese mission
leading to battle won by Chinese, the only battle in India-China relationship
until 1962.
Religious and cultural
interactions existed between them during the first few centuries. The Islamic
invasion in India made two countries living as strangers until nineteenth
century, when Europeans colonised both. Before European colonisation, China and
India accounted for about 33 percent and 25 percent respectively of the world's
manufactured goods. China under the Song (960- 1279) and Qing (1644- 1912)
dynasties was the superpower. Under the Guptas (c. 320- c.550 ce) and Mughals
(1526- 1857), India's economic, military, and cultural prowess was an object of
envy. Then European powers overshadowed the Asian civilisations which declined,
decayed, disintegrated and were eventually conquered by.
Post Colonisation
During The British
colonisation, China had limited trade relations with India. In early twentieth
century, a great resurgence in Asia deeply influenced India and China who looked
at each other with sympathy, admiration and sought mutual inspiration. In 1941
when the Japanese invade China, Indian national Congress dispatched a medical
mission to China headed by Dr Kotnis. He died in action and remembered in both
countries as a symbol of solidarity.
In 1947 India became
independent. India established diplomatic relations with nationalist Kuomintang
Chinese Govt in 1948. The communist People's Republic of China when established
on 1st Oct 1949 after the military defeat of the Kuomintang Govt, India was one
of the first non-communist countries to immediately recognize it.
Relations between 1949 - 1962
During this period the
Chinese ignored India's independent status and demonstrated unhappiness about
India's non-alignment policy. Mao Ze Dong openly stated that one can either be
towards imperialism or with socialism and a third road didn't exist; he called
Nehru a hireling of anglo-american imperialism. However, Prime Minister Nehru
viewed Indian independence and Chinese revolution as parallel expressions of
resurgent Asian nationalism and wanted them to be friendly. Nehru visualised
China as the future third great power but hastened to add India as the fourth.
The visits by prime ministers of China and India from June 1954 to Jan 1957
strengthened the friendly feeling.
The Tibet issue
disturbed the cordial neighbourly relation. India acknowledged China's
suzerainty over Tibet subject to Tibet's autonomy. The Chinese army invaded
Tibet on 7th Oct 1950. India stressed on peaceful negotiation of Tibet problem;
china dismissed Indian interference claiming Tibet as its internal affairs. In
1954 they signed "India-China agreement on trade and intercourse"
following China and Tibet May 1951 treaty.
In 1954 the signing of
an eight year agreement on Tibet initiated India-China relationship based on
Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence (or Panch Shila); with the slogan -
'Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai'. In 1954, new Indian maps included the Aksai Chin
region within its boundaries. The detection of a completed Chinese road in
Aksai Chin of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir region instigated serious and
frequent Indian protests and border clashes. In January 1959, PRC premier Zhou
Enlai informed Nehru that China never accepted the Mcmahon Line defining the eastern
border between India and China; rejecting Nehru's contention that the border
was based on treaty and custom.
The Dalai Lama,
spiritual and temporal head of the Tibetan people, required asylum in India. In
March 1959, thousands of Tibetan refugees with the Dalai Lama settled in
Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh. China immediately proclaimed 104,000 sq km of
Indian Territory as their demanding "rectification" of the entire
border.
China wanted Aksai
Chin back in exchange of its claim on India's north-east. The Indian government
rejected the idea as being humiliating and unequal. Relations further
deteriorated during 1960s. Border disputes resulted in a short border war
between the People's Republic of China and India in 20 October 1962. The PRC
pushed the unprepared and inadequately led Indian forces to within forty-eight
kilometres of the Assam plains in the northeast and occupied strategic points
in Ladakh, until the PRC declared a unilateral cease-fire on 21 November and
withdrew twenty kilometers behind its contended line of control.
Relations between the
PRC and India deteriorated during the rest of the 1960s and the early 1970s
while the Sino-Pakistani relations improved; Sino-Soviet relations worsened;
affecting Indo_China relation adversely. In late 1967 Indian and Chinese forces
in Sikkim fought two battles, first - the "Nathu La incident" and
second - the "Chola incident". They clashed again in 1984 in the
Sumdorong Chu Valley in Arunachal Pradesh.
Rajiv Gandhi's visit
to China in 1988 initiated a new era. A joint statement emphasizing the
necessity to revive warm relationship, increasing bilateral ties in diversified
areas and moreover, resolving the border issues, was issued.
Confidence-building measures continued in 1993. Different meetings were held to
solve the "line of actual control" issue, deployment of armed forces
along it and mutual knowledge about military exercises etc.
India's nuclear test
in May 1998 again deteriorated the relationship when the Indian Defense
Minister stated China as 'India's greatest threat'. In 2000 the Indian
President's visit to China; in 2002 the Chinese Premier's visit to India; in
2003 the Indian Prime Minister's visit to China improved the relationship
greatly. China's accepting Sikkim as an integral Indian state is a positive
step towards solving the border problems.
At present both
countries have a cordial relation barring a few incidents of scoring diplomatic
points over each other and both countries are concentrating on their respective
growth stories. Certain issues however remain sore point between them and must
be solved through mutual dialogue.
By Vaishali Sinha
Comments
Post a Comment