Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Kagodu Thimmappa has said China has not been following the Panchsheel agreement.
India and China signed the agreement — the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence — in 1954.
60th anniversaryMr. Thimmappa was speaking after the inauguration of a photography exhibition organised by the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China and the India-China Friendship Association (ICFA), Karnataka, here on Sunday. The event marked the 60th anniversary of the signing of the agreement.
In his presidential address, Mr. Thimmappa said that if both the countries prospered, they could win the world. “Unfortunately, while India has democracy, China has its own system, but it is the welfare of human beings that is of paramount importance,” he said. “Unfortunately, the Panchsheel has been destroyed from your [China’s] side,” he said.
‘Follow the concept’People in both the countries should try to follow the Panchsheel concept.
Consul General of the PRC Liu Youfa said both India and China were developing countries and facing the same challenges. Both had yet to find an equal say in international bodies such as World Bank and World Trade Organization. The two countries had other elements in common such as “the link of Buddhism”, he said.
‘Noteworthy progress’M.V. Rajasekharan, MLC, said China’s progress in the fields of economy and education were noteworthy and that rural China had many cottage industries providing employment to many people, much as envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi for India.
The Panchsheel approach for peace between countries is based on five principles: mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence.
