Events

Jointly organized by South Asian Studies Programme, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, and Institute of South Asian Studies, Singapore.

CHAIRPERSON

Dr Jayati Bhattacharya, South Asian Studies Programme, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

In the aftermath of the India-China war of 1962, anti-China (and anti-Chinese) feelings were rampant across India. These feelings led to the Indian government’s decision to intern and deport several thousand Chinese immigrants. The print media became vociferous in their criticism of the Chinese government, and members of the general public vented their anger by wrecking Chinese-owned businesses. In this background of anti-China hysteria, a group of Gandhians in India, led by Vinoba Bhave, and the World Peace Brigade decided to organize a march from Delhi to Beijing with the objective of (re)establishing peaceful relationship between India and China and push for a peaceful resolution of the border dispute. The march started from Raj Ghat in Delhi on 1 March, 1963, but ended eight months later in Assam after the Chinese government refused to grant visas to the marchers. Through an analysis of archival materials and personal papers of several people involved in the march, this presentation examines the crucial turning point in contemporary India-China relations within the broader contexts of the Cold War era, the transnational peace movements, and the role of civil societies in a decolonized world.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Tansen Sen is Professor of history and the Director of the Center for Global Asia at New York University (NYU) Shanghai, and Global Network Professor at NYU. He received his MA from Peking University and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600-1400 (2003; 2016) and India, China, and the World: A Connected History (2017). He has co-authored (with Victor H. Mair) Traditional China in Asian and World History (2012) and edited Buddhism Across Asia: Networks of Material, Cultural and Intellectual Exchange (2014). He is currently working on a book about Zheng He’s maritime expeditions in the early fifteenth century and co-editing (with Engseng Ho) Cambridge History of the Indian Ocean, Volume 1.

REGISTRATION

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