Xi Jinping praises India's 'Panchsheel' agreement for ending global conflicts

Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasised the importance of the ‘Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence’, which gained prominence with the Non-Aligned Movement, as a means to resolve current conflicts.

He also sought to expand China's influence in the Global South amid its ongoing tensions with the West.

Xi Jinping, invoked the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, termed as 'Panchsheel' by India, at a conference in Beijing to mark its 70th anniversary and also sought to juxtapose them with his new concept of Global Security Initiative envisaging a shared future for mankind.

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According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, the 'Panchsheel' principles were first formally outlined in the Agreement on Trade and Intercourse between the Tibet region of China and India, signed on April 29, 1954.

'Panchsheel' or The five principles were part of the legacy of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai, formed during their unsuccessful attempt to resolve the complex boundary issue.

"The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence answered the call of the times, and its commencement was an inevitable historic development. The Chinese leadership in the past specified the Five Principles in their entirety for the first time, namely, 'mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity', 'mutual non-aggression', 'mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs', 'equality and mutual benefit', and 'peaceful coexistence'," Xi Jinping said.

"They included the Five Principles in the China-India and China-Myanmar joint statements, which collectively called for establishing them as basic norms for state-to-state relations," Xi added at the conference.

Invitees of the conference included former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and several political leaders and officials from various countries associated with China over the years.

Xi Jinping recalled in his address that 'Panchsheel', the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence were born in Asia (India) but in no time it rose up to the world stage. In 1955, more than 20 Asian and African countries attended the Bandung Conference.

The Non-Aligned Movement, founded by Jawaharlal Nehru, that rose in the 1960s adopted the 'Panchsheel' or Five Principles as its guiding principles.

"The Five Principles have set a historic benchmark for international relations and international rule of law," Xi said.

Xi, who began his unprecedented third five-year term in power last year, has been encouraging several initiatives, including his billion-dollar pet project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), to enhance China's global influence.

Under the BRI, Beijing has made huge investments in infrastructure projects in smaller countries which in coming years attracted allegations of debt diplomacy as many countries struggled to pay back loans taken from China.

“China will establish a Global South Research Centre to better support Global South-South cooperation,” Xi said.

“China will provide 1,000 'Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Scholarship of Excellence,' 1,00,000 training opportunities to Global South countries in the next five years,” he added.

(With inputs from agencies)