Question

The agreement between China and India in 1954 is called _____________.
(A) Disarmament
(B) Panchsheel
(C) Non-alignment
(D) The policy of peace and friendship

Answer 1

Hint: The agreement between China and India in 1954 laid the foundation of India-China relations. This agreement would advance security and economic cooperation between the two nations.

Complete answer:
Some fifty years ago at a time when the world was asking for a new set of principles for the conduct of international relations that would be the reflection of the aspirations of all nations to prosper and co-exist together in harmony and peace, Panchsheel was born in response to this. In the Agreement on Trade and Intercourse between India and the Tibet region of China, the first formal enunciation of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence or Panchsheel was made. It was signed on 29 April 1954. The preamble stated that the two Governments “have resolved to enter into the present Agreement based on the following principles: - (i) Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, (ii) Mutual non-interference, (iii) Mutual non-aggression, (iv) Equality and mutual benefit, and (v) Peaceful co-existence.”
The apogee of the Hindi-Chini-Bhai-Bhai policy was marked by the ‘Panchsheel Agreement’. The implied assumption of the Five Principles was that after decolonization, newly independent states would develop a more pragmatic approach towards international relations.
In a broadcast speech made at the Asian Prime Ministers Conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the 5 principles were emphasized by Premier Zhou Enlai and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru after signing the Sino-Indian Agreement in Beijing.
At the historic Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia in April 1955, the five principles were subsequently modified in a form of a statement of ten principles. The conference itself led to the foundation of the Non-aligned Movement which gave shape to the idea that the post-colonial nations had something to offer to the bipolar world of the Cold War.

Thus, option (B) is correct.

Note: Within a few months of agreeing to the principles, China made its first attempt to infringe it. It claimed the Bara Hoti region which traditionally has been Indian Territory.