Paradox of Power
Another major factor is what I choose to call the “technological imperative”. The spectacular success in nuclear weapons technology has reached a stage where a nuclear war would spell disaster for humanity and decimation of life on this planet. This in a way is the paradox of power. Whatever the contributing factors may have been, we have always considered detente as a very healthy and welcome phenomenon. At the same time, detente cannot be meaningful to us in Asia, Africa and Latin America if it is confined to the continent of Europe. The spirit of detente should envelop the globe, and this must not be transient but an enduring and lasting process.
Peaceful co-existence of differing, even conflicting, philosophies, ideologies or ways of life is not new to us in India who have been brought up in the belief that there are more thin one ways to truth. Fortunately for us, in the formative years of independent India, our foreign policy was in the hands of Jawaharlal Nehru, who was steeped in our history and philosophy. Not surprisingly a major plank of our foreign policy, right from the beginning, has been the principle of peaceful co-existence -- and it is not merely a principle. We have tried to translate it into practice. We have continued to follow a policy of peace and friendly co-operation towards all, particularly towards those in our region.
Bilateralism
There is one more dimension, and that is one of bilateralism. It was on this basis that the Simla Agreement of July, 1972 was concluded between India and Pakistan and it is in pursuance of that agreement that recently we have achieved normalization of relations with Pakistan. It has taken nearly four years for this process to complete. During these four years we persisted, despite occasional disappointment in our policy of working for durable peace on the sub-continent. We believe that as neighbours who share so much of history, tradition and culture there is no rational alternative to friendship and co-operation between India and Pakistan. At the same time we recognize that as close neighbours it is not unnatural for problems and difficulties to arise from time to time. What is essential is a commitment and determination to overcome these difficulties in a spirit of friendship, good neighbourliness and mutual recognition of the economic and geographical imperatives of the region as a whole.
With our other neighbour, China, we have taken an important step forward. Our ambassador already stands accredited to the People's Republic of China and we expect that their ambassador will soon be here. This would provide a channel of communication between the two Governments at a higher level and it could eventually lead to improvement in bilateral relations.
There is much that has happened in the last decade or so and I do not wish to underestimate the difficulties in the way of such improvement. But all this constitutes an important step with a potential for positive developments. Here, I would like to state that any such improvement in our bilateral relations with China will not in any way affect the bilateral relations with their own rationale of mutuality. For example, it would be a mistake to think that our time-tested relationship of trust, respect and friendliness with the Soviet Union will be diluted.