5. Panchsheel

Panchsheel implies the five principles of conduct in international relations. It was embodied in the Preamble of the Indo-China Treaty on Tibet, signed in 1954 by Jawaharlal Nehru and Chou- En-Lai, the Chinese Premier. The five principles were:

(i) mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty;

(ii) non-aggression;

(iii) non-interference in each other’s internal affairs;

(iv) equality and mutual benefit; and

(v) peaceful co-existence.

"India perceived the 'Panchsheel’ as productive of peaceful cooperation of sovereign nations instead of the balance of terror and the degrading cold war tensions, being brought about by the rival great power pacts and alliances. India explained it as based on the concept of universalism as against the concept of the balance of power”4 .

Panchsheel became very popular and many countries of the world like Burma, Yugoslavia, Indonesia and so on adopted it. Panchsheel and non-alignment are the greatest contributions of India to the theory and practice of international relations.