PANCHSHEEL

 

 

 

 

IN THE context of geopolitical conflicts and continuing pursuit of world peace, ‘Panchsheel’ or the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence constitute a set of timeless values. Interestingly, Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping has brought the ‘Panchsheel’ back in discussion. To understand why he has done so, the historic context and contour need to be understood first. Though the ‘Panchsheel’ pointers were first formally enunciated in 1954 between India and the Tibet region annexed by China, they were followed by historic Bandung conference, which laid the foundation for Non-Aligned Movement during Cold War period. The ‘Panchsheel’ principles included, most importantly, ‘mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity’ of each other. The core idea was peaceful co-existence, a part of Buddhist philosophy rooted in the ancient Indian way of life. It was natural for India to have formalised its cultural belief at the world stage. But, the Communist China violated the ‘Panchsheel’ through cartographic aggression first, followed by irresponsible statements, and ultimately waging a war on India in 1962. Despite this, China blamed India for the war. But, China did not adopt this strategy with India alone.

 

Through doublespeak and deceptive diplomacy, China needled neighbouring countries by raising boundary disputes, mounting pressure, and then extracting favourable trade relations for ownself. Gradually, China displayed hegemonistic ambitions by lending money for infrastructure development in smaller nations beyond immediate neighbourhood. With the crisis in Sri Lanka, the world has come to call such lending as ‘debt diplomacy’ by the Communist country. This realisation, clubbed with the West’s outreach to the Global South, has created suspicion about China’s real intentions behind promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) too. In the post-COVID scenario, Mr. Jinping has realised that his pet project, BRI, is proving to be a failure. Hence, he is now promoting Global Security Initiative. Since the contours and content of sovereignty have changed over time, the world has moved from bi-polarity to multi-polarity. Many nations justifiably want their interests to be served through multilateralism-based world order.

 

Disruption in global supply chains due to ongoing conflicts has just strengthened the belief in multilateralism. In this context, Mr. Jinping has now invoked ‘Panchsheel’, lauding its relevance to end world conflicts. Despite supporting terror-haven country like Pakistan, China has been wanting to project itself as a responsible power whose intervention could be sought in various conflicts. But, the world has seen China’s real face over the years. Hence, even if it invokes a noble set of values like ‘Panchsheel’, the world will respond to it cautiously. In contrast, out of strong cultural belief, India has been practising the ‘Panchsheel’ principles. May it be helping the neighbours in their hour of need, or saving millions of lives globally through ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative during COVID-19 pandemic, India’s actions have been noble. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has been saying it on various forums that India is in favour of peace and co-operation, and not conflict. In the year marking 70th anniversary of ‘Panchsheel’, the world has subtly evolved in favour of genuine practitioner of the principles of peaceful co-existence, that is, India.