Refracted Images: India’s Self-Image and the Influence of China on Indian foreign policy (1950-1975)

Abstract

While visiting India from Lhasa in 1956—57, the Dalai Lama indicated that he would consider not returning to China-occupied Tibet should India offer him political asylum. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was not enthusiastic and suggested that the best way forward for the Tibetan people was for the Dalai Lama to stay in Lhasa. Less than two years later, in March 1959, India reversed this policy, deciding to grant political asylum to the Dalai Lama even before he requested it. What explains such inconsistencies or abrupt policy reversals? To answer this question, I analyze the role that cognitive predispositions play in determining policy. I use a modified framework of refracted images to investigate how three crucial aspects of India's self-image – civilizational conviction, territorial anxiety, and development – impact Indian foreign policy. I hypothesize that the apparent abrupt reversals or sudden discrepancies in Indian policy become intelligible when examined through aspects of India's self-image vis-Ã -vis China as refracted through India’s interactions with other actors in the region. Using primary source documents from three major archives and detailed interviews with 52 foreign policy decision-makers, I conduct an intertemporal analysis of India's policy towards Tibet in 1950—1959, and a paired comparison of India's policies towards Bhutan and Sikkim in 1968—1975. I conclude that the relationship between Asia’s two comparably sized powers—China and India—can be understood with reference to other smaller actors in the region. In this case, India’s foreign policy choices are shaped by its self-image and the desire that others respect this image, as evidenced in its relations with its Himalayan neighbors.