Xi Jinping invokes India's Panchsheel principles as he eyes the Global South

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday highlighted the relevance of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, which gained ground with the Non-Aligned Movement, to end current conflicts and sought to expand its influence in countries from the South to the Middle of their struggles with the West.

Xi, 71, invoked the five principles of peaceful coexistence, called Panchsheel by India, at a conference here to mark his 70th birthday and also sought to juxtapose them with his new concept of Global Security Initiative envisioning a shared future for humanity.

Learn more

The indications of the Panchsheel were first formally stated in the Agreement on Trade and Relations between the Tibet Region of China and India signed on April 29, 1954according to the Ministry of External Affairs. These five principles are part of the legacy left by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai in their unsuccessful quest to find a solution to the thorny border issue.

The five principles of peaceful coexistence responded to the call of time and their establishment was an inevitable historical development. Chinese leaders for the first time in the past specified the five principles in their entirety, namely mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in the internal affairs of the other, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence, Xi said.

They included the five principles of the China-India and China-Myanmar joint declarations that jointly call for making them basic norms for state-to-state relations, Xi said at the conference, which was attended by former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and several politicians, leaders and officials from various countries closely associated with China over the years.

The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence originated in Asia but quickly gained momentum on the international stage. In 1955, more than 20 Asian and African countries participated in the Bandung Conference, Xi recalled in his speech. The Non-Aligned Movement, which emerged in the 1960s, adopted the Five Principles as its guiding principles, he said.

The five principles set a historical benchmark for international relations and the international rule of law, he said, emphasizing their relevance to ending current conflicts.

They are fully consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the development of international relations in the times and the fundamental interests of all nations, Xi said, seeking to contrast them with his new concepts of the Global Security Initiative (GSI) that advocates the common security of nations and the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Xi, who began his unprecedented third five-year term last year, has pushed several initiatives, including his Billion-Dollar Pet Project: The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to strengthen China's global influence.

Under the BRI, Beijing made huge investments in infrastructure projects in smaller countries, sparking allegations of debt diplomacy in subsequent years as many countries faced struggling to repay loans taken out from China.

Furthermore, in the face of growing strategic competition from the United States and the EU, China has been jostled in recent years by India and other developing countries to consolidate its influence in countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, widely referred to as the Global South.

China will establish a Global South research center to better support global South-South cooperation, Xi said.

China will provide 1,000 scholarships on the five principles of peaceful coexistence, 1,00,000 training opportunities to southern countries in the next five years, and also launch a southern young leaders program, he said.