The Long Game: How the Chinese Negotiate with India

by Vijay Gokhale

Nehru’s personal convictions certainly played a part in it. He believed that an Asian resurgence in the post-war period would be possible only with China as a major player. He said so at the Asian Relations Conference in April 1947, on the eve of Indian independence, when he called China ‘that great country to which Asia owes so much and from which so much is expected’.

What did India gain from the early recognition of China? India’s international stature received a temporary boost. As a result of the good relations with both China and America, India played a role in the Korean peninsula. Nehru may have gained in personal stature. However, India squandered the first-mover advantage by not seeking substantive gains. India’s recognition neither secured the friendship of China nor the security of India’s northern frontier.