India and China: A Study of Cultural Relations

The Political relations which have recently developed between India and China - a major fact is Asia's current history - could not, in Sardar Panikkar's opinion, have developed but for the historic background of a thousand years and more of close association. With his background of historical scholarship and practical diplomacy (including an assignment as Indian Ambassador in China), Sardar Panikkar is better fitted than anyone else to survey and evaluate this long period of association and exchange. This he does most ably in the lectures published in this book, dispelling the common notion that this relationship consisted in no more than Chinese pilgrims coming to India and some Indian monks going to China. The prolonged contact, a major factor in the shaping of the Asian mind, had far -reaching and lasting results, the significance of which is lucidly analysed by Sardar Panikkar. The Appendixes deal with Tibet in Sino-Indian relations, Chinese pilgrims in India, and the interactions of India and China on Art.