Sino-Indian Relations ―From Hostility to Mutual Cooperation and Complementation

1.1 The changes in bilateral political and diplomatic relations India gained its independence from being a colony of Great Britain in 1947. The People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949. The next year, in 1950, the Indian and Chinese governments established diplomatic relations, and India was the first country outside the socialist block to recognize the People’s Republic of China. As a result, the two countries maintained a close, amicable relationship during the 1950s. Among the emerging countries that gained independence from a colonial condition, India did not join either the US or Soviet camps, and together with China, developed the anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist Non-Aligned Movement. Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai visited India in 1954, and, in a joint declaration after speaking with Indian Prime Minister Nehru, announced the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence,” which he proclaimed should be used in the relations between states. At the Asian–African Conference (AA Conference or Bandung Conference), which was held in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955, the leaders of 29 emerging countries in both regions adopted the “Ten Principles of Bandung,” which were based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. India and China built an amicable, cooperative relationship in the 1950s, and there were frequent visits by the leader of the other country. However, relations grew tense starting in 1959 as a result