R Venkataraman, a veteran member belonging to the Congress Party, who later became the President of the republic from 1987 to 1992, participating in the parliamentary discussion on 21 February 1979, expressed the solidarity of the House with the people of Vietnam. He was critical of the American acquiescence of the Chinese attack. He said, “As you are aware, imperialism never dies; imperialism only sheds its trappings.

After the Second World War, a new imperialism came into vogue and the United States of America pronounced a theory that after the fall of the British and French empire, there is a power vacuum in several parts of the country one in Southeast Asia and one in the MiddleEast-and they tried to fill this power vacuum by supporting puppet regimes in the IndoChina region. It supported the puppet regime of Baodai, Sigman Rhee and the like, who were oppressing the people and who were acting contrary to the national interests.

The brave and valiant people of Vietnam struggled against this kind of oppression and they were able to throw (out) not only the French but also subsequently the United States’ hegemony over them.” Referring to his visit to Ame rica immediately after the visit of the Chinese President, he said that “a red carpet was rolled for him wherever he went. He spoke against the superpowers, meaning thereby the Soviet Union and the United States. He also spoke of their hegemony over the world. And what do you find now? After having attacked the two superpowers, China, as a super power has now started attacking her neighbour in this area, thereby showing what a split personality it has. It is not the first time that it has done that. They have been talking of Panchsheel, of peaceful coexistence between countries on the one side, and then at the same time, committing acts of aggression against others. It happened in 1962 so far as our country is concerned and the same thing has happened in Vietnam.” The discussion resumed for the second day on 22 February 1979.

One member, M.N. Govindan Nair, belonging to the Communist Party of India, while condemning the ‘naked aggression’, was critical of the role of All India Radio for not broadcasting the news of the Chinese attack, which was reported by other agencies such as the BBC and the Voice of America. He also criticized that Foreign Minister Vajpayee was not in formed, when he was present on Chi nese soil. He described the Chinese behavior as ‘discourteous’. He was also critical of the role of the Ministry of External Af fairs for their ignorance of “what was happening all rou nd”. He was critical of the tacit collusion between Chi na and the USA. Elucidating his point, he said, “After the visit of the Chinese Vice Premier to the USA, Mr. Carter has entrusted the responsibility of keeping peace and order in the East with the Chinese.

The way they are trying to keep peace is shown by their actions in Vietnam. Every other state in Southeast Asia is terribly afraid about their security and here is a country, India, which is one of the major nations in this region…” He asked, “Are we taking a line of giving some sense of security to these nations?” Mr. Govindan Nair was critical of the great powers, particularly China, “acting as the Policeman of the East”. He said that the biggest tragedy of the century was “a big nation like China, after fighting against the imperialists and establishing a Socialist Government, is breaking away from the socialist world and becoming a handmaid of imperialism… When I speak about China, my thoughts go back to those days, those heroic days when the Chinese fought against the imperialism of both Japan and America. Millions of people in China laid down their lives to save their country from imperialists…” He bemoaned that “all of them in their grave must be revolting against what is happening today in China.” M. Satya Narayan Rao of the Congress, while endorsing the stance that there was collusion between the USA and China with regard to Vietnam said, “…There is a big conspiracy between the United States and China.

Recently the Chinese Vice Premier went to USA and had talks with President Carter; after discussions with him he came back to China and they wanted to involve our country and so when our foreign minister was visiting China, they wanted to give an impression that not only the United States, Japan and other countries, but also India is supporting China. It is a proof. They wanted proof. They did not know at that time that he would be bold enough to cut short his visit and come back soon and the condemnation resolution will be moved here and all parties will condemn it. They did not know that.

This is a conspiracy and I am happy this government did not fall into the trap…” He hoped that if anything happened in South East Asian countries, India should come to their rescue. He further urged that India should start negotiations with other countries and ensure that this aggression was stopped immediately. Taking a dig at the USA, he said, “… Why is the USA interested? The USA failed in curbing Vietnam. They wanted to take revenge against Vietnam. That is why they found friendship with China and indirectly they are encouraging this. Now they are very much interested to see that Vietnam is defeated by China…” Another member, Prof Samar Guha, who belonged to the left leaning Forward Bloc, had a slightly different stance presumably on ideological grounds.

He said, “…Perhaps most unwittingly many members have forgotten by what they are saying they are trying to play into the hands of the very big power that was persistently and consistently tried to see the detente between India and China is not established because of certain international political relations that have developed in recent decades…The sympathy of the Indian people and this House have been amply expressed in favour of Vietnam. There is another reason for this. The great people of Vietnam, who fought for 25 years against one big giant ~ the USA ~ have shown how even a small nation, with the spirit of determination to defend their freedom, could accept the challenge of a big power like the USA. That is ano – ther reason why we have our respect for Vietnam…”

(The writer is a former senior fellow of Indian Council of Social Science Research, affiliated to Indian Institute of Public Administration, and also a former senior fellow of Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi)