(Hindi; “five principles”), (1) mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, (2) mutual nonaggression, (3) mutual noninterference in each other’s internal affairs, (4) equality and mutual benefit, and (5) peaceful coexistence. These principles were first worded in the preamble to the agreement between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and India of April 1954. This agreement was concerned with trade and the relations between the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the PRC and India. The Panch Shila was reflected in the decisions of the Bandung Conference of 1955 and in other international documents.
In practice, the Maoist leadership of the PRC subsequently disregarded the Panch Shila.