Existing socialist parties in Europe did not wholly approve of the way
the Bolsheviks took power- and kept it. However, the possibility of a workers’
state fired people’s imagination across the world. In many countries, communist
parties were formed-like the Communist Party of Great Britain. The
Bolsheviks encouraged colonial peoples to follow their experiment. Many
non-Russians from outside the USSR participated in the Conference of the
Peoples of the East (1920) and the Bolshevik-founded Comintern (an
international union of pro-Bolshevik socialist parties). Some received
education in the USSR’s Communist University of the Workers of the East. By the
time of the outbreak of the Second World War, the USSR had given socialism a
global face and world stature.
Yet by the 1950s it was acknowledged within the country that the style
of government in the USSR was not in keeping with the ideals of the Russian
Revolution. In the world socialist movement too it was recognised that all was
not well in the Soviet Union. A backward country had become a great power. Its
industries and agriculture had developed and the poor were being fed. But it
had denied the essential freedoms to its citizens and carried out its
developmental projects through repressive policies. By the end of the twentieth
century, the international reputation of the USSR as a socialist country had
declined though it was recognised that socialist ideals still enjoyed respect
among its people. But in each country the ideas of socialism were rethought in
a variety of different ways.
USSR and India:
USSR and India:
Writing
about the Russian Revolution in India
Among those the Russian Revolution inspired were many Indians. Several attended
the Communist University. By the mid-1920s the Communist Party was formed in
India. Its members kept in touch with the Soviet Communist Party. Important
Indian political and cultural figures took an interest in the Soviet experiment
and visited Russia, among them Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore, who
wrote about Soviet Socialism. In India, writings gave impressions of Soviet
Russia. In Hindi, R.S. Avasthi wrote in 1920-21 Russian Revolution, Lenin,
His Life and His Thoughts, and later The Red Revolution .
S.D. Vidyalankar wrote The Rebirth of Russia and The Soviet State of
Russia. There was much that was written in Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam,
Tamil and Telugu.
An
Indian arrives in Soviet Russia in 1920
‘For the first time in our lives, we were seeing Europeans mixing
freely with Asians. On seeing the Russians mingling freely with the rest of the
people of the country we were convinced that we had come to a land of real
equality.
We saw freedom in its true light. In spite of their poverty, imposed by
the counter-revolutionaries and the imperialists, the people were more jovial
and satisfied than ever before. The revolution had instilled confidence and
fearlessness in them. The real brotherhood of mankind would be seen here among
these people of fifty different nationalities. No barriers of caste or religion
hindered them from mixing freely with one another. Every soul was transformed
into an orator. One could see a worker, a peasant or a soldier haranguing like
a professional lecturer.’
Shaukat
Usmani, Historic Trips of a Revolutionary.
Rabindranath
Tagore wrote from Russia in 1930
‘Moscow appears much less clean than the other European capitals. None
of those hurrying along the streets look smart. The whole place belongs to the workers…
Here the masses have not in the least been
put in the shade by the gentlemen…those who lived in the background for
ages have come forward in the open today… I thought of the peasants and workers
in my own country. It all seemed like the work of the Genii in the Arabian
Nights. [here] only a decade ago they were as illiterate, helpless and hungry
as our own masses… Who could be more astonished than an unfortunate Indian like
myself to see how they had removed the mountain of ignorance and helplessness
in these few years.’
The Indo–Soviet
Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation was a treaty signed
between India and the Soviet Union in August 1971 that
specified mutual strategic cooperation. The treaty was a significant deviation
from India's previous position of non-alignment in the Cold
War and in the prelude to the Bangladesh war, it was a key
development in a situation of increasing Sino-American ties and American
pressure. The treaty was later adopted to the Indo-Bangladesh Treaty
of Friendship and cooperation in 1972.
The
Treaty
The Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Co-operation, 9 August
1971
Desirous of expanding and consolidating the existing relations of
sincere friendship between them,
Believing that the further development of friendship and cooperation
meets the basic national interests of lasting peace in Asia and the world,
Determined to promote the consolidation of universal peace and security
and to make steadfast efforts for the relaxation of international tensions and
the final eliminations of the remnants of colonialism
Upholding their firm faith in the principles of peaceful coexistence
and co-operation between States with different political and social Systems,
Convinced that in the world today international problems can only be
solved by co-operation and not by conflict,
Reaffirming their determination to abide by the purposes and principles
of the United Nations Charter,
The Republic of India on the one side, and the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics on the other side,
Have decided to conclude the present treaty, for which purposes the
following plenipotentiaries have been appointed:
On behalf of the Republic of India: Sardar Swaran Singh, Minister of
External Affairs.
On behalf of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: Mr A. A. Gromyko,
Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Who, having each presented their credentials, which are found to be in
proper form and due order, have agreed as follows:
(ARTICLE I)
The High Contracting Parties solemnly declare that enduring peace and
friendship shall prevail between the two countries and their peoples. Each
party shall respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of
the other party and refrain From interfering in the other's internal affairs.
The High Contracting Parties shall continue to develop and consolidate the
relations of sincere friendship, good neighbourliness and comprehensive
cooperation existing between them on the basis of the aforesaid principles as
well as those of equality and mutual benefit.
(ARTICLE II)
Guided by the desire to contribute in every possible way to ensure
enduring peace and security of their people, the High Contracting Parties
declare their determination to continue their efforts to preserve and to strengthen
peace in Asia and throughout the world, to halt the arms race and to achieve
general and complete disarmament, including both nuclear and conventional,
under effective international control.
(ARTICLE III)
Guided by their loyalty to the lofty ideal of equality of all peoples
and nations, irrespective of race or creed, the High Contracting Parties
condemn colonialism and racialism in all forms and manifestations, and reaffirm
their determination to strive for their final and complete elimination.
The High Contracting Parties shall cooperate with other States to
achieve these aims and to support the just aspirations of the peoples in their
struggle against colonialism and racial domination.
(ARTICLE IV)
The Republic of India respects the peace-loving policy of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics aimed at strengthening friendship and co-operation
with all nations.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics respects India's policy of
non-alignment and reaffirms that this policy constitutes an important factor in
the maintenance of universal peace and international security and in the
lessening of tensions in the world.
(ARTICLE V)
Deeply interested in ensuring universal peace and security, attaching
great importance to their mutual co-operation in the international field for
achieving these aims, the High Contracting Parties will maintain regular
contacts with each other on major international problems affecting the
interests of both the States by means of meetings, and exchanges of views
between their leading statesmen, visits by official delegations and special
envoys of the two Governments, and through diplomatic channels.
(ARTICLE VI)
Attaching great importance to economic, scientific and technological
co-operation between them, the High Contracting Parties will continue to
consolidate and expand mutually advantageous and comprehensive co-operation in
these fields as well as expand trade, transport and communications between them
on the basis of the principles of equality, mutual benefit and most-favoured
nation treatment, subject to the existing agreements and the special
arrangements with contiguous countries as specified in the Indo - Soviet trade
agreement of 26 December 1970.
(ARTICLE VII)
The High Contracting Parties shall promote further development of ties
and contacts between them in the fields of science, art, literature, education,
public health, press, radio, television, cinema, tourism and sports.
(ARTICLE VIII)
In accordance with the traditional friendship established between the
two countries, each of the High Contracting Parties solemnly declares that it
shall not enter into or participate in any military alliance directed against
the other Party.
Each High Contracting Party undertakes to abstain from any aggression
against the other Party and to prevent the use of its territory for the
commission of any act which might inflict military damage on the other High
Contracting Party.
(ARTICLE IX)
Each High Contracting Party undertakes to abstain from providing any
assistance to any third country that engages in armed conflict with the other
Party. In the event of either being subjected to an attack or a threat thereof,
the High Contracting Parties shall immediately enter into mutual consultations
in order to remove such threat and to take appropriate effective measures to
ensure peace and the security of their countries.
(ARTICLE X)
Each High Contracting Party solemnly declares that it shall not enter
into any obligation, secret or public, with one or more States, which is
incompatible with this Treaty. Each High Contracting Party further declares
that no obligation be entered into, between itself and any other State or
States, which might cause military damage to the other Party.
(ARTICLE XI)
This Treaty is concluded for the duration of twenty years and will be
automatically extended for each successive period of five years unless either
High Contracting Party declares its desire to terminate it by giving notice to
the other High Contracting Party twelve months prior to the expiration of the
Treaty. The Treaty will be subject to ratification and will come into force on
the date of the exchange of Instruments of Ratification which will take place
in Moscow within one month of the signing of this Treaty.
(ARTICLE XII)
Any difference of interpretation of any Article or Articles of this
Treaty which may arise between the High Contracting Parties will be settled
bilaterally by peaceful means in a spirit of mutual respect and understanding.
The said Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Treaty in Hindi,
Russian and English, all text being equally authentic and have affixed thereto
their seals.
Done in New Delhi on the Ninth day of August in the year One Thousand
Nine Hundred and Seventy One.
On behalf of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(Sd.) A. A. Gromyko,
Minister of External Affairs,
On behalf of the Republic of India
(Sd.) Swaran Singh, Minister of External Affairs.
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