asked the Taoiseach whether he has had any communication from the Prime Minister of India concerning the present Chinese hostilities against India; and whether he will make a statement on the subject.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Indian Border Hostilities.
1.
I have recently received a personal message from the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Nehru, concerning the attacks made by the forces of Communist China on the Indian frontier. In this message, Mr. Nehru gave me a summary of the events preceding these attacks and of the Chinese operations, and he expressed the hope that, in the struggle in which his country is at present engaged, he could count on our sympathy and support.
Our people have, of course, always had especially friendly feelings for India and her people. We admired and sympathised with the struggle of India for independence, and we were among those nations which most rejoiced when India achieved independence in 1947. Gandhi was a leader whose name, in Ireland, was synonymous with unselfish dedication to the cause of national freedom and self-determination, and Prime Minister Nehru has long been known and admired in this country as a worthy successor of Gandhi and one of the great statemen of our time. Indeed, Deputies will recall that, in order to mark our esteem for Mr. Nehru, Dáil Éireann, in a unique gesture, received him formally on the Floor of the House in April, 1949.
It is, therefore, natural that, by reason both of our devotion to the cause of freedom and of our special affection for India, the attacks to which Indian territory has recently been subjected should evoke here a strong feeling of resentment. And our resentment is all the stronger because Chinese aggression against India is not only contrary to the principles of peaceful negotiation which should, in our view, replace war as a means of settling disputes, but also jeopardises the rather delicate balance which has hitherto prevailed in relations between Asiatic States and thus adds to the dangers of conflict in that vast area, where peaceful conditions are so important for the maintenance of the peace of the world.
It is quite clear that the Chinese aggression on India constitutes an unprovoked attack on a country which has tried, by every reasonable method, to maintain friendly relations with China and that it also represents a sudden and deplorable rejection of the mutual discussions which India has always favoured and which had, indeed, been proceeding—if only spasmodically—for some time. We recall, of course, that China had already taken violent action, some three years ago, to suppress the autonomy of Tibet and the freedoms of its people—an action against which, as Deputies will be aware, the Minister for External Affairs protested in the strongest terms and which, on our initiative, was condemned by the General Assembly of the United Nations. This, however, only heightens our sense of reprobation of the present arbitrary action against India and our grave anxiety about its possible consequences.
When the Indian Chargé d'Affaires in Dublin delivered Mr. Nehru's message to me, I spoke to him on the foregoing lines. I also asked him to assure his Prime Minister of the fullest sympathy of the Irish Government and people with the Government and people of India in their present struggle, of our wholehearted moral support in the defence of their rights, and of our earnest hope that they will triumph over this brutal aggression.
Could the Taoiseach say if we have raised this matter at the United Nations?
The matter has not been raised at the United Nations.
Is it proposed to raise it in order to have the matter considered?
That would hardly be a matter for our initiative.