Book Discussion Report by Smiti Iyer

Book Discussion Report by Smiti Iyer

Smiti Iyer

Book title: Crosswinds: Nehru, Zhou and the Anglo-American Competition

On 3rd April 2023, Symbiosis School of International Studies conducted an interactive session to discuss the book: "Crosswinds: Nehru, Zhou and the Anglo-American Competition over China" with its author, Shri. Vijay Gokhale, former Foreign Secretary of India along with Prof. Shivali Lavale, Director of Symbiosis School of International Studies.

The session began by providing an overview of the book, where the author highlighted the emergence of ideas from three questions, one from his first book 'Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest' and the other two from his recent publication. The emphasis on archival materials, especially British history, and its availability through digital sources and libraries were made. The book also tries to answer and explain three pragmatic questions related to the reassessment of India's Foreign Policy, whether it is non-aligned and its influence among the individuals and the systems. The incidents that took place along with India's recognition of China and India's relations with the US are also talked about along with the impact on Indian Foreign Policy during the Cold War. With reference to Chapter 5 'The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis' much of India's Foreign Policy had a personality-driven approach earlier due to the lack of systems in place. The author concludes by placing importance on relooking and revisiting the history constitutionally, diplomatically and economically to understand today's phenomena.

This session also included five groups of discussants, highlighting and discussing certain arguments related to the book with the author.

Group 1: The Cold War and Its Global Implications

The crystallisation of the Cold War, its implications for regional stability and global power relations, including the rise of power of communism due to Chiang Kai Shek's emergence were main arguments posed by the first group. The author stated the incident of 1949 of China landing into communism, including the Soviet Union's desire to bring communism in Europe. America, on the other hand, needed a strong entity to anchor the Pacific, and chose chose China to fulfil its own permanent interest. He also highlights China facing centuries of civil war, which was followed by the need for change in regime among Communist Party supporters. This was a major challenge, as Americans aided Chiang Kai Shek to deter China. Americans had lacked an alternative plan which led to the rise of prominent leaders like Mao Zedong. Therefore, the author provides a takeaway of having an alternative plan before making a foreign policy.

Group 2: Chinese Propaganda and Ambassador Panikkar's Role

The arguments posed by the second group were about carrying an anti-Indian notion by the Chinese Propaganda and sympathy of Ambassador K.M. Panikkar towards communism. At first the author places importance on perceptions and their cruciality in shaping foreign policy, along with its distinction with the facts. This, in turn, has led to the contradictory notion regarding India and China's imperialism and hence, leading to a misunderstanding between the two. This has created a basis of misunderstandings between the two countries, hence leading to Panikkar's assessment going wrong. India had signed multiple treaties with China in the 1940s, which might be overturned due to India's recent agreements with the US. Therefore, the Chinese's concern of 'silence leading to dissent' had discouraged them to not agree to any acquiescence.

Group 3: India's Role as a Mediator in the Geneva Accords

India's role as a mediator in the Geneva Accords and its stance on Indo-China relations to bring in the new notion of diplomatic efforts were the arguments posed by the third group. The author emphasizes on 'pyrrhic victory' and India's concern about suffering for its own security if the peace and stability are disturbed in their neighbouring region. For this, he gives an example of the Vietnam War, where India's main concern was the South China Sea due to its geographical proximity. The strategy and tactics of India is followed by determining its national interest rather than believing in the principle of brotherly peace. The tactic here was to be the mediator in any conflict around, which it was hesitant to do so. India had begun playing its role as the mediator after becoming the voice of the Global South leveraging India's participates in Global Affairs. Due to this, claims were made of its rise in stature with the other third world countries.

Group 4: The First Taiwan Strait Crisis and India's Involvement

The fourth group talked about the 'First Taiwan Strait Crisis', where the discussion about UNSC's common action plan took place. The chapter, along with 'The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis', showed India's involvement in the Taiwan Strait Crisis not because of sovereignty but to protect its region from disturbance of peace and stability in its neighbouring region. India had chosen this objective after showing a deeper economic interest in Taiwan and addressed the same in the Security Council through an actual veto. Here, India had played a role of the mediator in supporting the two major powers, which lies contradictory among the Americans. It also conveyed India's national interests as personality-driven rather than by the systems. The miscommunication between Prime Minister Nehru and Krishna Menon regarding offering mediation towards US, had led to a mistake on India's part, affecting its national policy.

Group 5: The Second Taiwan Crisis and India's Diplomatic Strategy

In the 'Second Taiwan Crisis', the fifth group argued on the Indian leadership and the key strategies at the contemporary stage for India to attain the role of a negotiator. It also discussed about India's personality driven diplomacy as one of the repercussions for its diplomatic strategy that time. Here, the author had emphasized on two important aspects. The first one consists of Amb. Parthasarathy constantly reporting from Beijing and Krishna Menon's visit to London and New York to convey the possibility of war between the US and China, where Nehru had listened to the latter than to the former. The second lesson here emphasizes how Krishna Menon was used by the Chinese and Britain. While China allowed Menon to mediate because of his sympathetic nature towards the country, Britain used him to get to the Chinese. The need of systems has also been highlighted through the emergence of cabinet committees, national security, parliament, media, etc. But it should also be noted that systems and individuals do not function at the same time. For example, Chinese strategic thinking today is influenced by Mao's diplomatic tactics and projects its policy by crafting an entirely different narrative.

About the author

Shri Vijay Gokhale is a retired Indian diplomat who served as the 32nd Foreign Secretary of India. Prior to this role, he held several key positions in Indian diplomatic missions, including serving as the Indian Ambassador to China. His diplomatic career also included postings in Hong Kong, Hanoi, Beijing, and New York. Currently, he is a distinguished visiting faculty member at the Symbiosis School for International Studies (SSIS) in Pune.

(Smiti Iyer is MA International Studies student (2023-25 batch) at the Symbiosis School of International Studies)