India's Ad Hoc Arsenal - Publications - SIPRI

32 INDIA'S AD HOC ARSENALSikkim, east of Nepal, was until 1975 a protectorate of India and is now thetwenty-second state of the Indian Union. Between Sikkim and Tibet there areseveral passes which can be used throughout the year. Furthermore, Sikkim isrich in timber and mineral resources and is close to Tibet in terms of cultureand ethnicity. The strategically important Chumbi valley lies between Sikkimand Bhutan but is a part of Tibet. It is often described as a dagger pointed atIndia. Further south lies the Jalpaiguri district, a narrow corridor between Nepaland Bangladesh. This area is only 150 miles from the Chumbi valley and linksall the north-eastern states of India to the rest of the country .41IX. The China questionIn the late 1940s China underwent tremendous internal upheaval which culminatedin the dominance of communism. Until then China posed no threat eitherto South Asia or to the buffer states which separated the two major Asianpowers. Initially, the state of complacency continued; during the 1950s, MaoZedong was concerned with the major powers, the Korean War, internal consolidationand retrenchment. Consequently, Nehru did not consider China to beeither an immediate threat or a serious security consideration, although afterChina's entry into Tibet in 1950 he took rapid steps to include Nepal in India'sdefence perimeter and extend Indian administration into Tawang, a monasterytown beyond the MacMahon Line, the border recognized by the governmentsof India and Tibet but not by China in 1914.In addition, the mid-1950s was the Bandung period and the spirit of nonalignmentinfluenced India's perception of Chinese communism.42 The IndianGovernment saw in Bandung not only a spirit of general non-alignment andneutralism but also a special relationship with China, the other major Asianpower. Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai (the brotherhood of Indians and Chinese)became the slogan of the day. Perhaps the goodwill between Beijing and Delhiwas based on pragmatism as well, for the evolution of a 'third force' in internationalpolitics could barely succeed without the participation of both.In later years the spirit and intention of non-alignment and neutralism continued,albeit in a battered form. Cordial relations between India and China didnot. Immediately after the success of the Chinese revolution, India was one ofthe first countries to recognize communist China and extend goodwill. The dispatchof one of New Delhi's most able diplomats to become ambassador inBeijing was intended to show how well-disposed India was to communistChina. However, reciprocation on the part of Mao was hardly fulsome; Pekinginitially referred to the Indian Government as both a 'puppet' of imperialism41 Bandyopadhyaya, J., The Making of Indian Foreign Policy (Allied Publishers: New Delhi, 1979).pp. 34-36.42 The Bandung Conference (1955) was the first large-scale gathering of Asian and African states, andled to the creation of the Non-Aligned Movement.