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Russia-China-India triangle – then and now
Global Village Space |
M K Bhadrakumar |
The South China Morning Post jogged our memory by retrieving from the archives of the Wilson Centre in Washington the transcript of a conversation between the then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and the Chinese leadership regarding the deteriorating India-China relations. The conversation took place in September 1959. Khrushchev was visiting China to attend the National Day celebrations marking the tenth anniversary of the Chinese Revolution.
Also present at the meeting were the unofficial chief ideologue of the CPSU Politburo Mikhail Suslov and the Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. From the Chinese side, Mao Zedung was flanked by First Vice-Chairman of the CCP Liu Shaoqi, Premier Zhou En-Lai, Vice-Premier Lin Biao, CCP Politburo member Peng Zhen, Vice-Premier and Foreign Minister Marshal Chen Yi.
One constant, however, between then and now stands out: the bonding between the Russian and Indian leaderships. Modi’s recent visit to St. Petersburg testifies to that.
Read more: Trump signs Russia sanctions bill, but spits at it
The backdrop was tumultuous: Khrushchev’s historic visit to India in 1954 was blossoming into a deep friendship between the two countries; Sino-Soviet ideological schism was brewing (largely unknown to the outside world); the high noon of the Cold War was approaching; and China was lurching toward the Great Leap Forward (aimed at transforming the country’s agrarian economy into a socialist society through rapid industrialization and collectivization.)
Meanwhile, Tibet had risen in revolt; Dalai Lama had fled to India, and the first border skirmishes between India and China had occurred and the territorial dispute had sailed into view. The transcript brings out the following two key elements:
Today’s India, on the other hand, has an ad-hoc approach. It lacks the ‘big picture’. Its intellectual resources are sadly depleted and moral fiber has weakened.
The transcript makes engrossing reading even as India and China are once again tottering on the abyss. History never repeats, but the man always does; therefore, today’s bleached landscape carries remnants of the past.
Read full article.....
Russia-China-India triangle – then and now
Global Village Space |
M K Bhadrakumar |
The South China Morning Post jogged our memory by retrieving from the archives of the Wilson Centre in Washington the transcript of a conversation between the then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and the Chinese leadership regarding the deteriorating India-China relations. The conversation took place in September 1959. Khrushchev was visiting China to attend the National Day celebrations marking the tenth anniversary of the Chinese Revolution.
Also present at the meeting were the unofficial chief ideologue of the CPSU Politburo Mikhail Suslov and the Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. From the Chinese side, Mao Zedung was flanked by First Vice-Chairman of the CCP Liu Shaoqi, Premier Zhou En-Lai, Vice-Premier Lin Biao, CCP Politburo member Peng Zhen, Vice-Premier and Foreign Minister Marshal Chen Yi.
One constant, however, between then and now stands out: the bonding between the Russian and Indian leaderships. Modi’s recent visit to St. Petersburg testifies to that.
Read more: Trump signs Russia sanctions bill, but spits at it
The backdrop was tumultuous: Khrushchev’s historic visit to India in 1954 was blossoming into a deep friendship between the two countries; Sino-Soviet ideological schism was brewing (largely unknown to the outside world); the high noon of the Cold War was approaching; and China was lurching toward the Great Leap Forward (aimed at transforming the country’s agrarian economy into a socialist society through rapid industrialization and collectivization.)
Meanwhile, Tibet had risen in revolt; Dalai Lama had fled to India, and the first border skirmishes between India and China had occurred and the territorial dispute had sailed into view. The transcript brings out the following two key elements:
Today’s India, on the other hand, has an ad-hoc approach. It lacks the ‘big picture’. Its intellectual resources are sadly depleted and moral fiber has weakened.
- Khrushchev had developed bonding with Jawaharlal Nehru following the latter’s two visits in quick succession (1955 and 1957) to USSR. Moscow had begun appreciating India’s non-alignment and the Soviet Union was apprehensive of the collateral damage from the Sino-Indian dispute;
- Moscow found fault with the Chinese leadership’s Tibet policies, especially in its failure to anticipate the revolt and prevent Dalai Lama from fleeing to India; Moscow was not willing to endorse China’s version of the skirmishes on the Indian border.
The transcript makes engrossing reading even as India and China are once again tottering on the abyss. History never repeats, but the man always does; therefore, today’s bleached landscape carries remnants of the past.
Read full article.....
Russia-China-India triangle – then and now
