"It is a somber indictment of our times that the outcomes are always the same when one nation attempts to free itself or enslaves another. Referring to the intensifying Korean war and worried by the carnage and violence in the Korean Peninsula, indianprime minister Jawaharlal Nehru stated in parliament on march 28, 1951, "In either case, it is death and misery for millions."
In a globe divided between capitalist and communist blocs, Jawaharlal Nehru's india, a country just declared independent and dedicated to nonviolence, faced its first major diplomatic test. india saw a chance to promote its non-alignment beliefs globally and endeavor to bring peace to a war-torn area in the midst of the Korean Peninsula conflict.
India, under prime minister Nehru, was instrumental in ending the Korean War's proxy conflict between the US and the USSR and restoring peace to the peninsula. india played a key role in the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement in July 1953 via tenacious diplomatic efforts and a moral stand.
As prime minister Narendra Modi travels to ukraine in the midst of the tragic Russia-Ukraine war, it is fascinating to reflect on the significant role that the nation's first PM played. The world looks to india, a self-assured and diplomatically sophisticated country, to help resolve the war between russia and ukraine, which has been raging for more than two years.
HOW THE KOREAN war BEGAN AND WHAT WAS INDIA'S STANCE Following North Korea's invasion of south korea in june 1950, the Korean war broke out, swiftly turning into a proxy conflict between the superpowers of the day, with the US leading the Western capitalist bloc and china and the Soviet Union supporting the communist North.
Forces from north korea have entered south korea by crossing the 38th Parallel, a four-kilometer-wide stretch that serves as a boundary between the two.
According to former diplomat Skand R Tayal, the situation worsened at a time when American public opinion was growing critical of the military situation in Korea and US President Harry Truman made ambiguous remarks about the possibility of using the atomic bomb on the North.
"India was a major player in trying to find a solution to limit and end the horrific conflict at this crucial period. According to Tayal's book, india and the Republic of Korea: Engaged Democracies, "Prime minister Nehru wisely advised that great harm might be done by trying to fasten blame on only one country as the US led West was intent on excoriating China."
The invasion was swiftly denounced by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which also urged its members to support South Korea. There was increasing international pressure on India. But instead of picking a side, she opted for neutrality and continued to support peace and Korea's reunification.
India's neutrality was a deliberate commitment to de-escalation and peaceful resolution, not a display of apathy. Perhaps as a lesson from the 200-year Raj, prime minister Nehru and his advisers felt that Asia should decide its own fate without intervention from outsiders.
"Under Nehru's direction, the indian government wanted Asians to decide their own destiny. Asian people's destiny has been determined by Western nations since the 18th century. It was crucial for Asian nations like Korea to speak out vigorously on all issues pertaining to peace and stability in the Asian continent as decolonization began following World war II, according to Tayal.
INDIA'S DIPLOMATIC ENDEAVOURS IN KOREAN CRISIS India was one of the nations that 'looked east' and was among the first to take an active diplomatic role at the UN, making efforts to intervene and suggest ways to put an end to the hostilities in Korea.
Congress leaderjairam ramesh wrote in his book, A Chequered Brilliance: The Many Lives of VK krishna Menon, that "up until early 1952, he [Nehru] had involved four people in his efforts at brokering a peace agreement at the UN: [Vijaylaxmi] Pandit, then Indian’s ambassador in the US; VK krishna Menon; KM Panikkar, India’s ambassador in China; and BN Rau, India’s Permanent Representative at the UN."
Being very proactive, BN Rau spoke with several parties to identify points of agreement. indian Ambassador to Beijing, KM Panikkar, communicated India's position to Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.
With the number of victims and destruction in the battle continuing to rise, the demand for a truce become more pressing.
According to Australian-Korean scholar David W. Kim, Nehru wrote personal letters to the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, the former US Secretary of State Dean Acheson, and the former US Secretary of State George C. Marshall pleading with them to end the impasse in the UNSC.
INDIA'S 1952 RESOLUTION AT UN TO END KOREAN WAR Following protracted negotiations and several disappointments, india introduced a resolution at the UN General assembly in november 1952 calling for the creation of a Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission (NNRC). India's plan has humanitarian issues at its heart. It emphasized that, in compliance with the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war (POWs) should not be forced returned against their will.
A unique scenario arose after the Korean War: over 20,000 prisoners of war (POWs) were afraid of political retaliation or persecution if they returned to their home countries.
At first, there was opposition to the resolution, especially from china and the Soviet Union, who were leery of any plans that would threaten their control over the Korean Peninsula.
Nevertheless, the resolution was finally adopted on december 3, 1952, with full support from non-Soviet members, thanks to India's tenacious diplomatic efforts with the Americans and the moral weight of her impartial and principled attitude.
"...The vote was taken and was unanimous in favour of the indian resolution... the Plenary [session of the General Assembly] (December 3) went through smoothly and the resolution, after a good enough speech by Menon, was adopted by 54 in favour, 1 abstention and 5 against," wrote Lester Pearson, then the Canadian foreign minister.
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