Different Worlds

Nehru considered the establishment of Mao’s People’s Republic of China an event of historical importance, transcending the Cold War and signaling the resurgence of free Asia. But China had never accepted the northern boundary with India, known as the McMahon Line, asserting it had been drawn by British imperialists intent on diminishing its control over Tibet. India, militarily much weaker than China, adopted a policy of unwavering friendship toward China as the best approach to securing a diplomatic solution to the border dispute. Once China entered an alliance with the Soviet Union, the United States perceived an expanded communist threat. Nehru, reiterating India’s nonalignment, advanced the notion of Asianism to consolidate Indian-China solidarity.