Tibet in Sino-Indian relations: The centrality of marginality

Asian Survey

Volumn 37, Issue 11, 1997, Pages 1078-1094

  Norbu, Dawa ^a  

^a JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY   (India)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

FOREIGN POLICY; GEOPOLITICAL RELATIONS; SINO-INDIAN RELATIONS;

TIBET;

EID: 0031404028     PISSN: 00044687     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/as.1997.37.11.01p0297c     Document Type: Article

References (46)

1. Tibet and Peace in South Asia (New Delhi: National Committee for Tibet and Peace in South Asia, 1991), pp. 46-47.
2. See, in particular, Nehru's address to the Lok Sabha, December 7, 1950. Parliamentary Debates 1:18 (New Delhi: Parliament of India, 1950). In his letters to V. K. Krishna Menon and K. M. Panikkar in 1950, Nehru not only used the same British terminology ("Chinese suzerainty" and Tibetan "autonomy") but also argued along the same lines. See Jawaharlal Nehru, Selected Works, vol. 15 (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 429, 433.
3. See, in particular, Nehru's address to the Lok Sabha, December 7, 1950. Parliamentary Debates 1:18 (New Delhi: Parliament of India, 1950). In his letters to V. K. Krishna Menon and K. M. Panikkar in 1950, Nehru not only used the same British terminology ("Chinese suzerainty" and Tibetan "autonomy") but also argued along the same lines. See Jawaharlal Nehru, Selected Works, vol. 15 (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 429, 433.
4. There is, so far, no official Indian statement to this effect available. But evidence for such an argument may be discerned from a number of policy actions that Nehru's government took during the period 1947-50. In 1947 an official Tibetan delegation was invited to participate in the Asian Relations Conference held in New Delhi. Immediately after independence, Nehru's government wrote to Lhasa, stating that all past treaty commitments would be respected. In 1949 the government of India sent General Zorawar C. Bakshi to advise the Lhasa government on defense matters. And at the time of the Communist takeover in 1950, Nehru strongly protested against the Chinese entry into Tibet. See Dawa Norbu, "Chinese Strategic Thinking on Tibet on the Himalayan region," Strategic Analysis (New Delhi) 12:4 (July 1988), p. 373.
5. Jawaharlal Nehru, Selected Works, pp. 434-36; Zha-Sgabs-pa dban phyug bde-ldan, Bodkyi Srid-don rgyal-rabs, vol. 2 (Kalimpong: Shakabpa House, 1976), pp. 417-18.
6. Jawaharlal Nehru, Selected Works, pp. 434-36; Zha-Sgabs-pa dban phyug bde-ldan, Bodkyi Srid-don rgyal-rabs, vol. 2 (Kalimpong: Shakabpa House, 1976), pp. 417-18.
7. Charles H. Heimsath and Surjit Mansingh, A Diplomatic History of Modem India (Bombay: Allied Publishers, 1971), p. 22.
8. A. Appadorai, ed., Select Documents on India's Foreign Policy and Relations 1947-1972 (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1985), pp. 547-49.
9. A Times (London) correspondent (July 29, 1949) commented that "if India preferred to abandon Tibet to its fate, Western powers were in no position to object to Chinese takeover of Tibet."
10. Cited in D. R. Mankekar, The Guilty Men of 1962 (Bombay: Tulsi Shah Enterprises, 1968), p. 138.
11. Nehru, Selected Works, pp. 429, 433, 435, 442. See also his statement to the Lok Sabha, on 27 April 1959, Parliamentary Debates XXX, 1959 (New Delhi: Lok Sabha Secretariat, 1959), p. 13499.
12. Nehru, Selected Works, pp. 429, 433, 435, 442. See also his statement to the Lok Sabha, on 27 April 1959, Parliamentary Debates XXX, 1959 (New Delhi: Lok Sabha Secretariat, 1959), p. 13499.
13. Examples include 1954-58 and 1989-93. See Appendix in R. K. Jain, ed., China-South Asia Relations, 1947-1980 (New Delhi: Radiant Publishers, 1981), pp. 577-85; Dawa Norbu, "India-China Relations: The Latest Phase," unpublished text of Pandit Hridayanath Kunzuru Memorial Lecture on International Affairs delivered on March 31, 1993, at JNU City Centre, New Delhi.
14. Examples include 1954-58 and 1989-93. See Appendix in R. K. Jain, ed., China-South Asia Relations, 1947-1980 (New Delhi: Radiant Publishers, 1981), pp. 577-85; Dawa Norbu, "India-China Relations: The Latest Phase," unpublished text of Pandit Hridayanath Kunzuru Memorial Lecture on International Affairs delivered on March 31, 1993, at JNU City Centre, New Delhi.
15. Mao Zedong, Selected Works, vol. 5 (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1977), p. 64.
16. This was reflected in the Chinese press. See Kwangming Daily, September 3, 1949; World Culture (Shanghai), October 28, 1949; Observer (Shanghai) April 11, 1950.
17. This was reflected in the Chinese press. See Kwangming Daily, September 3, 1949; World Culture (Shanghai), October 28, 1949; Observer (Shanghai) April 11, 1950.
18. This was reflected in the Chinese press. See Kwangming Daily, September 3, 1949; World Culture (Shanghai), October 28, 1949; Observer (Shanghai) April 11, 1950.
19. Premier Chou En-lai's Letter to the Leaders of Asian and African Countries on the Sino-Indian Boundary Question (Beijing: Foreign Language Press, 1962), pp. 3-4.
20. Mr. Jagath S. Mehta, in his speech at the South Asia Seminar on Non-violence in the Modern World System, October 2, 1995, at the India International Centre, New Delhi. For details of the Chinese and Indian evidence for their respective boundary claims, see Report of the Officials of the Government of India and the People's Republic of China on the Boundary Question (New Delhi: Ministry of External Affairs, 1961).
21. Dawa Norbu, Red Star over Tibet (London: Collins, 1974), pp. 110-17.
22. Neville Maxwell, India's China War (Bombay: Jaico Publishing House, 1970), p. 12; W. F. Van Eekleten, Indian Foreign Policy and the Border Dispute with China (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1967), pp. 21-24.
23. Neville Maxwell, India's China War (Bombay: Jaico Publishing House, 1970), p. 12; W. F. Van Eekleten, Indian Foreign Policy and the Border Dispute with China (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1967), pp. 21-24.
24. Maxwell, India's China War, p. 123; Jawaharlal Nehru's Speeches, September 1957-April 1963, vol. 4 (New Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1964), p. 212.
25. Maxwell, India's China War, p. 123; Jawaharlal Nehru's Speeches, September 1957-April 1963, vol. 4 (New Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1964), p. 212.
26. They include 24,000 sq. km in Ladakh, about 320 sq. km in the middle sector, and some 51,200 sq. km in the eastern sector.
27. L. J. Kavic, India's Quest for Security: Defence Policies 1947-1965 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), pp. 68, 69, 70, 184.
28. Sarvepalli Gopal, Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography, vol. 2 (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1979), p. 89.
29. See Nehru's statement to the Lok Sabha on April 27, 1959, Parliamentary Debates XXX, 1959, p. 13500.
30. White Paper II (New Delhi: Ministry of External Affairs, November 1960), pp. 8-16.
31. Ibid., p. 188.
32. Agehananda Bharati, "Actual and Ideal Himalayas: Hindu Views of the Mountains," in James F. Fisher, ed., Himalayan Anthropology (The Hague: Morton Publishers, 1978), pp. 77-82.
33. Maxwell, India's China War, p. 127. Respected sources, including Nehru himself, substantiate my hypothesis that Hindu images of and religious emotions attached to the Himalayas significantly colored the then Indian attitude toward the Sino-Indian boundary dispute and the 1962 conflict. I am aware that contemporary Indian writers on such subjects are likely to disagree with this view in their attempt to project "rational" strategic thinking in India, then as now. This may be a case of retrospective determinism, and it may reflect the current rationalistic thinking of the small defense elite - but not that of Hindu masses even now. In any case, the evidence I have cited suggests that in the late 1950s and early 1960s both India's secularized political elite and its Hindu masses fell under the sway of religious emotions when dealing with the Himalayan boundary and Tibet issue.
34. Agehananda Bharati, "References to Tibet in Medieval Indian Literary Documents," Tibet Society Bulletin, vol. 3 (Bloomington, 1969), pp. 46-70.
35. This emotive slogan, coined by Hindu nationalists in the 1950s, continues to this day. In the 1950s, Ram Swarup organized Hindu support for Tibet and the Himalayas around this slogan. Today Anand Kumar continues to mobilize Hindu support for Tibet along the same lines.
36. Nehru cited in Maxwell, India's China War, p. 121.
37. Dawa Norbu, Culture and the Politics of Third World Nationalism (New York: Routledge, 1992), pp. 145-52.
38. Jawaharlal Nehru, India and the World (London: Allen and Unwin, 1936), pp. 251-53.
39. They included Acharya Kripalani, Sardar Patel, Jai Prakash Narain, and Rammanohar Lohia, all of whose criticisms proved to be quite far-sighted in the light of the 1962 war; see Durga Das, ed., Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Correspondence (Ahmedabad: Navajivan, 1971), pp. 245-341; Rammanohar Lohia, India, China, and Northern Frontiers (Hyderabad: Navahind, 1963), pp. 121-32; Dr. G. C. Kendadamath, J. B. Kripalani (Varanasi: Ganga Kaveri Publishing House, 1992), pp. 153-61.
40. They included Acharya Kripalani, Sardar Patel, Jai Prakash Narain, and Rammanohar Lohia, all of whose criticisms proved to be quite far-sighted in the light of the 1962 war; see Durga Das, ed., Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Correspondence (Ahmedabad: Navajivan, 1971), pp. 245-341; Rammanohar Lohia, India, China, and Northern Frontiers (Hyderabad: Navahind, 1963), pp. 121-32; Dr. G. C. Kendadamath, J. B. Kripalani (Varanasi: Ganga Kaveri Publishing House, 1992), pp. 153-61.
41. They included Acharya Kripalani, Sardar Patel, Jai Prakash Narain, and Rammanohar Lohia, all of whose criticisms proved to be quite far-sighted in the light of the 1962 war; see Durga Das, ed., Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Correspondence (Ahmedabad: Navajivan, 1971), pp. 245-341; Rammanohar Lohia, India, China, and Northern Frontiers (Hyderabad: Navahind, 1963), pp. 121-32; Dr. G. C. Kendadamath, J. B. Kripalani (Varanasi: Ganga Kaveri Publishing House, 1992), pp. 153-61.
42. Now called "Special Frontier Force."
43. Swarn Lata Sharma, Tibet: Self-Determination among Nations (New Delhi: Criterion Publications, 1988), p. 109.
44. Times of India (New Delhi), May 1, 1980.
45. Dawa Norbu, "China's Dialogue with the Dalai Lama, 1978-90: Prenegotiation Stage or Dead End?" Pacific Affairs 64:3 (Fall 1991), pp. 351, 365, 372.
46. Mr. K. Natwar Singh, who accompanied Rajiv Gandhi, said out of the 40 minutes the Chinese president spent talking with the Indian prime minister, Jiang Zemin spent about 30 minutes talking about Tibet with Rajiv Gandhi. This was stated by Mr. Singh in his speech to a seminar on "Indian and Chinese Foreign Relations," on February 18-21, 1992, at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Teen Murti House, New Delhi, on the first day (February 18, 1992). Regarding the Li Peng visit, see Hindu (New Delhi), December 14, 1991.