When Senator J. William Fulbright recently called for an an end to certain myths in American foreign policy he provoked, not unexpectedly, a debate over basic issues. Some of these are issues that Prime Minister Nehru grappled with in his long political career, issues that are neatly summed up in the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence found in the preamble of the Sino-Indian Agreement on Tibet, signed April 29, 1954.

Although the Tibetan treaty expired in 1962, the norms in the preamble continue to play a vital role in world affairs.