Page 346 - SSB Interview: The Complete Guide, Second Edition

Indian support, Tibetan delegates signed an agreement in May 1951
recognising PRC sovereignty but guaranteeing that the existing political and
social system of Tibet would continue. Direct negotiations between India and
the PRC commenced, in an atmosphere improved by India’s mediation

efforts in ending the Korean War (1950–1953).

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Meanwhile, India was the 16 state to establish diplomatic relations with
the PRC, and did so on 1 April 1950. In April 1954, India and the PRC

signed an eight-year agreement on Tibet that set forth the basis of their
relationship in the form of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence (or

Panchsheel). Although critics called the Panchsheel naive, Nehru calculated
that in the absence of either the wherewithal or a policy for defence of the
Himalayan region, India’s best guarantee of security was to establish a
psychological buffer zone in place of the lost physical buffer of Tibet. It is

popular perception that the catchphrase of India’s diplomacy with China in
the 1950s was Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai, which means, “Indians and Chinese are

brothers”, but there is evidence to suggest that Nehru did not trust the
Chinese at all. Therefore, in unison with diplomacy, Nehru sought to initiate
a more direct dialogue between the people of China and India in various

ways, including culture and literature. In 1957, the famous Indian artist
(painter) Beohar Rammanohar Sinha from Visva-Bharati Santiniketan, who
had earlier decorated the pages of the original Constitution of India, was sent

to China on a Government of India fellowship to establish a direct cross-
cultural and inter-civilisation bridge. Noted Indian scholar Rahul
Sankrityayan and diplomat Natwar Singh were also there, and Sarvapalli

Radhakrishnan paid a visit to the PRC. Between 1957 and 1959, Beohar
Rammanohar Sinha not only disseminated Indian art in the PRC but also
mastered Chinese painting as well as lacquer-work. He also spent time with

great masters Qi Baishi, Li Keran, Li Kuchan, as well as some moments with
Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. Consequently, up until 1959, despite border
skirmishes and discrepancies between Indian and Chinese maps, Chinese

leaders amicably assured India that there was no territorial controversy on the
border though there is some evidence that India avoided bringing up the
border issue in high-level meetings.