EVENTS

Abstract

Mr. Avtar Singh Bhasin’s five-volume book titled India-China Relations 1947-2000: A Documentary Study is a rich compendium of archival material pertaining to India-China relations in the period 1947 and 2000. In the book discussion, the author will outline the contours of the book project and discuss the policy of the Ministry of External Affairs with regard to access to the archival material beyond the 30-Year rule. The author will dwell on the methodology that he had followed in accumulating the documents. Mr. Bhasin will also speak on the British Government’s dichotomous policy in the 20th century towards Tibet and China, which India on independence inherited. He will also make some remarks on the British policy in the 19th century with regard to opening up of trade with Tibet.

About the Speaker

Mr. Avtar Singh Bhasin is a retired Director, Historical Division of the Ministry of External Affairs. During his tenure in the Ministry he served in Indian missions abroad.  He was Senior Fellow at the Indian Council of Historical Research from 1994 to 1996, and Honorary Fellow at the Institute of Contemporary Studies at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library from 1996 to 2000. As part of his academic research in the post-retirement period, he has produced five volumes each of documentary studies of India’s relations with Sri Lanka (2001) Bangladesh (2003) and Nepal (2005) and another 10-volume study on India-Pakistan Relations (2012). He has authored two other books: Some Called It Partition, Some Freedom and India in Sri Lanka: Between Lion and the Tigers. Another of his book India and Pakistan: Neighbours at Odds is under publication from Bloomsbury. His latest book is a documentary study in five volumes ‘India-China Relations 1947-2000,’ published in January 2018.