The Limits of Jawaharlal Nehru's Asian Internationalism and Sino-Indian Relations, 1949-1959

Abstract

This paper seeks to provide the genesis of the decline of Jawaharlal Nehru's friendly relations with China and of his foreign policy doctrine of Asian Internationalism by examining two key moments: the Panchsheel Treaty of 1954 and the Bandung Conference of 1955. Paradoxically, these international events sowed the seeds from which Nehru's non-aligned movement would arise. Nehru cast away his cherished vision of Asian solidarity, succumbing to the nationalistic currents of state building and the geopolitical trap of the Cold War.