Chronology Entry
Year
1962.12.28
Text
Letter from Bertrand Russell to Jawaharlal Nehru. Plas Penrhyn, 28. Dez. 1962.
Private & Confidential
Dear Mr. Nehru, Thank you for your letter of December 20. I find it extremely painful to be in any degree of disagreement with you. As for the material which caused my doubts, I had long interviews in London with your Deputy High Commissioner and, also, with the Chinese Chargé d'Affaires. It was quite impossible for me to know which of them, if either, was giving an accurate account of the matter. The only conclusions to which I was able to come from my talks with them supplemented by all the information that I could get hold of from the documents they each gave me as well as from other sources was that each side had a case and that it should be left to expert impartial examination to decide as to the justice of the rival claims.
Apart from the rights and wrongs of the original dispute, the Chinese unilateral cease-fire and withdrawal seemed to me a generous action showing a real desire for Peace. I thought that India should have given a more welcoming response to their gesture. I think, further, that the questions of who was the first aggressor and of which of two provisional lines should be adopted during negotiations, are less important than the grave dangers involved in a long war, and both India and China will be gravely to blame if they insist upon this or that provisional line as a condition for negotiations.
I have been alarmed by your public mention of a 'long war'. Such a war would be infinitely dangerous and can only be justified by considerations of 'honour' and 'prestige'. Whipping up of nationalist war-like feeling by professed disciples of Gandhi inevitably throws doubt upon the sincerity of Indian professions in past years.
It is very kind of you to offer to send me the correspondence between your Government and that of China, and, if you do so, I shall read it with the utmost care.
Yours sincerely, Bertrand Russell.
Private & Confidential
Dear Mr. Nehru, Thank you for your letter of December 20. I find it extremely painful to be in any degree of disagreement with you. As for the material which caused my doubts, I had long interviews in London with your Deputy High Commissioner and, also, with the Chinese Chargé d'Affaires. It was quite impossible for me to know which of them, if either, was giving an accurate account of the matter. The only conclusions to which I was able to come from my talks with them supplemented by all the information that I could get hold of from the documents they each gave me as well as from other sources was that each side had a case and that it should be left to expert impartial examination to decide as to the justice of the rival claims.
Apart from the rights and wrongs of the original dispute, the Chinese unilateral cease-fire and withdrawal seemed to me a generous action showing a real desire for Peace. I thought that India should have given a more welcoming response to their gesture. I think, further, that the questions of who was the first aggressor and of which of two provisional lines should be adopted during negotiations, are less important than the grave dangers involved in a long war, and both India and China will be gravely to blame if they insist upon this or that provisional line as a condition for negotiations.
I have been alarmed by your public mention of a 'long war'. Such a war would be infinitely dangerous and can only be justified by considerations of 'honour' and 'prestige'. Whipping up of nationalist war-like feeling by professed disciples of Gandhi inevitably throws doubt upon the sincerity of Indian professions in past years.
It is very kind of you to offer to send me the correspondence between your Government and that of China, and, if you do so, I shall read it with the utmost care.
Yours sincerely, Bertrand Russell.
Mentioned People (1)
Russell, Bertrand
(Trelleck, Monmouthsire 1872-1970 Plas Penrhyn bei Penrhyndeudraeth, Wales) : Philosoph, Logistiker, Mathematiker, Literaturnobelpreisträger ; Dozent Cambridge, Oxford, London, Harvard University, Chicago, Los Angeles, Beijing
Subjects
Philosophy : Europe : Great Britain
Documents (1)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1884-1970 |
Russell, Bertrand. The selected letters of Bertrand Russell. Ed. by Nicholas Griffin. Vol. 1-2. (London : Allen Lane, 1992-2001). Vol. 1 : The private years, 1884-1914. Vol. 2 : The public years, 1914-1970. |
Publication / Russ36 |
|