Return of the Cold War: World Needs a Nehru

 

Return of the Cold War: World Needs a Nehru

Following the Russian aggression in Ukraine, February 24,2022, what we see is the return of the Cold War between the West led by the US and Russia, on the one hand, and a new Cold War emerging between the US and China, on the other, posing threat to international peace and security.

 

In this context, it is relevant to recall how Prime Minister Nehru had defused many a world crisis during his time and how the big players in the cold war looked to him for mediation to defuse the crises, by virtue of moral authority he commanded in the community of nations, and by the strength of his independent foreign policy of non-alignment- positive neutrally of judging the issues on merit.  Dialogue and negotiations between the warring nations are not possible when they do not see eye-to-eye on disputes affecting them. In such situations, mediation by a third party, as an independent impartial neutral umpire, could bring the warring groups together and help resolve the disputes, as Nehru demonstrated, by successfully acting as a go-between the warring factions, with regards to the Korean War (1950), the Indo-China Conflict (1954), the Suez Crisis (1956) and the like. The mundane elements in the foreign office and the ruling party do not understand how important Nehru’s India was to the world during the height of cold war when the world was divided into two hostile blocs- the Western Block Vs the Soviet Union, the ‘free world’ Vs the ’communist world’.

 

A case study of the Korean War is discussed here to demonstrate how Nehru prevented the cold war turning into a global war, based on the author’s doctoral thesis: Jawaharlal Nehru: His Contribution to World Peace (published as a book Nehru and World Peace). The Chapter Nehru-Menon Symbiosis: Mediation in Global Crises examines the role of Nehru in defusing the global crises.

 

The outbreak of the Korean War on June 25, 1950, which had the potential of turning into a global war with the direct participation of the two blocs, put Nehru’s policy of non-alignment on trial.  The UN Security Council, following the withdrawal of the USSR from the Council, passed a resolution accusing North Korea of aggression and authorized the US to enforce necessary sanction.  Consequently, President Truman despatched the American troops in support of South Korea. Nehru wrote letters to Stalin and Dean Acheson (the US Secretary of State) on July 13 and 15 respectively pleading for ending the war. Nehru’s peace proposal and its acceptance by Stalin enabled the USSR to return to the Security Council.   

 

The New York Times commented that the struggle for Asia “conceivably could be won or lost in the mind of one man-Jawaharlal Nehru. He is, in a sense, the counter weight on the democratic side to Mao Tse-tung on the communist side to have him an opponent or even a critic could jeopardize the position of Western Democracy throughout Asia.” The British Labour Party leader Fenner Brockway said: “Nehru exerting a restraining influence on China had alone more than anything else to prevent the Korean conflict from involving the world.”  

 

The Indian Ambassador in China at that time K.M. Panikkar, had become an important diplomat to serve as a link between the Chinese authorities and the Government of India, on the one hand, and China and the West, on the other.  On the mid-night of October 2, Chou En-lai summoned Panikkar to convey that “if the Americans crossed the 38^th Parallel China would be forced to intervene in Korea. American intrusion into North Korea would encounter Chinese resistance.” Panikkar telegraphically dispatched the gist of conversation to Nehru the very night.  Yet, the UN adapted a resolution on October 8, authorizing General MacArthur to cross the 38^th Parallel and bring about the unification of Korea. The next day Nehru had transmitted to Panikkar a message from Ernest Bevin- a British Labour Leader and statesman- to be communicated personally to Cbou En-lai urging China not to precipitate the crisis.

 

General MacArthur crossed the 38^th Parallel, following the heavy casualties the American troops suffered in North Korea at the hands of the Chinese army. The US was contemplating retaliatory measures of a naval blockade of China and the bombing of Chinese airfields, with the UK willing to support the bombing. The Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference held in January 1951 at London offered a good opportunity to Nehru to carry out hectic consultations with various heads of the Government with regard to the Korean crisis. He made a series of proposal to the Chinese authorities. Panikkar was interpreting these proposals to the Chinese authorities who called on him frequently. On the conclusion of the Commonwealth Conference, it was agreed that Nehru would visit Paris where he would discuss all the relevant factors with India’s Ambassadors in Europe, USA and USSR and he would fly to Moscow from Paris to confer with Stalin.  

 

At Paris, Nehru discussed the plan about cessation of hostilities in Korea with S. Radhakrishnan, Krishna Menon, Benegal Rau, G.S. Bajpai and Vijay Lakshmi Pandit (leader of the Indian delegation at the UN). Subsequently, cables were exchanged between India House, Kremlin and Peking.  By not condemning China as an aggressor in Korea, India had gained in stature and escaped from the accusation of being a stooge of the West. The American resolution was defeated.  Consequently, India’s ability to exercise a sobering influence on China and the USSR had increased.  In a letter to Chou En-lai, January 23,1951, Nehru pleaded:

 

“The occasion demands the highest statesmanship which by its vision and generosity will upset the forces making for war and give to Asia not only peace and strength but also a moral leadership. The new China is in a position today to give such a far-seeing and generous lead to peace, which can result in an immediate removal of tension and fear from the world. We in India and China have suffered enough humiliation in the past and have resented it and fought against it. We should follow a different course and try to secure a stable peace through a peaceful and cooperative approach. This would be no sign of weakness but of strength and confidence in ourselves”

 

Nehru had thus prevented the Korean War escalating into yet another global war by urging moderation on the part of China. However, the question of exchange of prisoners of war had become a thorny issue, defying solution to cessation of hostilities. Krishna Menon met the representatives of the both the blocs, carried person-to-person conversations. And after a month’s intensive feverish activity, India moved a resolution in the seventh session of the UN General Assembly containing the proposal that Nehru made earlier that the prisoners should be repatriated under the supervision of a Neutral National Repatriation Commission. The Indian resolution sought to reconcile the two divergent points of view, without surrender of principles on either side. The US representative at the UN had commended the Indian initiative. China accepted the Indian proposal with India assuming the Chairmanship of the Neutral National Repatriation Commission. India assumed the custody of some 22,604 POWs from the UN Command and 359 from the Command of the Korean People’s Army and Chinese People’s Volunteers. The prisoners were repatriated as per their wish without any force or threat of force. India provided a Custodial Force of some 6,000.

 

President Eisenhower in his letter to Prime Minister Nehru, February 19, 1953, acknowledged the efforts of India:

 

“I want to express to you my appreciation and that of my countrymen for the performance of the Indian Custodial Forces. No military unit in recent years has undertaken a more delicate and demanding peace time mission than that faced by the Indian forces in Korea. The vast majority of prisoners placed in their charge had from months of imprisonment and uncertainty become highly nervous and volatile. The confidence inspired by the exemplary tact, fairness and firmness shown by the Indian officials and men led by their two able commanders Lieutenant General Thimayya and Major General Throat did much to alleviate the fears and doubts of these prisoners. They deserve the highest commendation.”  

 

The de-escalation of the Korean War was Nehru’s first major contribution to world peace, and the success of his policy of non-alignment. His doctrine of Panchsheel- the five principles of peaceful co-existence-a corollary of non-alignment-had become a code of international conduct, with the UNESCO adapting it. 

 

The Russian aggression in Ukraine needs to be understood .After the collapse of the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1991,Russia had become very vulnerable. The NATO which had 16 members then, now expanded into Eastern Europe, its membership raising to 30. The US antagonism and distrust of Russia has contributed to this unholy expansion. The erstwhile East European countries- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland - which were part of the Soviet Union, are today members of the NATO military alliance of the West. The NATO is attempting to make Ukraine, that broke up from the Soviet Union, part of its grand military alliance. Putin’s Russia obviously feels encircled and threatened by the hostile neighbourhood. Russia wants a friendly neutral non-aligned Ukraine in its backyard. It wants the West and Ukraine to honour the Minsk agreements. The US is confronting the two hostile countries, ideologically opposed-Russia and now China-having totalitarian-authoritarian regimes. It is essentially an East-West conflict. Each camp is distrustful of the other and feels insecure and threatened, while trying to extend its sphere of influence and contain the other. India must take a moralistic principled stand to help  defuse the Ukrainian crisis.  

 

The world needs a statesman of Nehru’s stature- an independent neutral umpire with visionary leadership exercising moral authority-to bring about rapprochement between the hostile camps and sanity to the world order.