Korean Failure
The .terms in which the Peking Government finally rejected the United Nations resolution for a settlement of the prisoners of war question in Korea were- so emphatic, abusive, and utterly unhelpful that they make the whole episode of the Indian proposals look like a rather pathetic waste of time. The good intentions of the Indian Government and their unshak- able determination to go on. appealing to the Communists to behave with humanity and reason, however often they are rebuffed, are not in doubt. But the practical usefulness of this type of approach, particularly at a time when the Com- munist Powers, by their greater willingness to accept heavy casualties, considered that they had put the United Nations forces at a disadvantage, was never completely clear. Of course the Indian peacemaking efforts must go on, but there is little point in giving those efforts too much prominence until there is at least some positive indication from the Com- munist side that they have a chance of success. The Korean war will not be stopped by mere demonstrations, whether they are made by the Indian Government, by General Eisenhower or by anyone else. And the anti-climax which is bound to follow the complete collapse of the Indian initiative is now rendered even deeper by the recurrence of trouble at the prisoner-of-war camps, while the mid-winter fighting at the front is as bitter and bloody as ever.
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