Relations between India and Portugal began amicably in 1947 when the former achieved independence. Relations went into decline after 1950 over Portugal's refusal to surrender its exclaves of Goa, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli on India's west coast. By 1955, the two nations had cut off diplomatic relations, triggering a crisis that led to a war between two countries which resulted in the Indian annexation of Goa in 1961. Portugal refused to recognise Indian sovereignty over the annexed territories until 1974 when, following the Carnation Revolution, the new government in Lisbon recognised Indian sovereignty and restored diplomatic relations.
Background Prior to Indian independence Portugal's relations with the British Indian Empire were derived from those with the United Kingdom, set within the framework of the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373.João Ferreira Duarte, "The Politics of Non-Translation: A Case Study in Anglo-Portuguese Relations", This treaty, signed between King Edward III of England and Ferdinand I and Queen Eleanor of Portugal, established "perpetual friendships, unions [and] alliances" between the two seafaring nations and is the world's oldest active treaty."Closing The Ring", Churchill, Sir Winston Spencer, 1951 This led to amicable relations—especially with regard to trade and transport between British and Portuguese colonies in the India.
Commencement of relations: 1947–1950 Relations between Portugal and the Indian Union were quite cordial in 1947, particularly in light of Portuguese willingness to terminate the old Padroado treaty with the Holy See, which had traditionally given the Archbishop of Goa 'patriarchal' authority over other parts of India. On 12 August 1948, India and Portugal exchanged diplomatic missions.
Goa dispute: 1950–61 As of the creation of the Republic of India in January 1950, Portugal held a handful of territories on the Indian subcontinent—the districts of Goa, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli—collectively known as the Estado da Índia. Goa, Daman and Diu covered an area of around and had a population of 637,591.Numbers from 1955, thus excludes Dadra and Nagar-Haveli. The bulk (547,448) was in Goa (composed of the districts of Old and New Goa, Bardez, Mormugão and Salsete, and the offshore island of Anjediva), remainder in Damman (69,005) and Diu (21,138). See Kay (1970) Salazar and Modern Portugal, New York: Hawthorn, p. 295) The Goan diaspora was estimated at 175,000 (about 100,000 within the Indian Union). Its religious distribution was 61% Hindu, 36.7% Christian (mostly Catholic), 2.2% Muslim. The economy was primarily based on agriculture, although the 1940s and 1950s saw a boom in mining—principally iron ore and some manganese. Portugal's steadfast refusal to cede these territories caused relations with India to decline. Armed conflict commenced in December 1961.
Opening of negotiations over Goa
On 27 February 1950, the Government of India asked the Portuguese government to open negotiations about the future of these colonies. This followed Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's statement that "Goa is part of the Indian Union and it shall return." On 15 July 1950, the Portuguese government responded by declaring that the question presented "could not be discussed, much less accept the solution that was proposed."
Portugal asserted that its territory in India was not a colony but part of metropolitan Portugal and hence its transfer was non-negotiable; and that the India had no rights to this territory since the Republic of India did not exist when Goa came under Portuguese rule. The Portuguese constitution, which affirmed that the diplomatic and military defence of sovereignty was imperative, was amended in 1951 to explicitly designate colonies in India and Africa as 'Overseas Colonies' although Goa had been treated as one since 1518.Goa was first recognised as equal to the metropolis in the Royal Charter of 1518, and affirmed in subsequent legislation. The term 'province' was first used in 1576, and the term 'overseas provinces' used in virtually all legislation and constitutions thereafter, e.g. Art.1-3 & Art. 162-64 of 1822 Constitution online, 1826 constitution online, Art. I & Title X of the constitution of 1838 online, Title V of the Republican constitution of 1911 online and the 1932 Constitution of the Estado Novo.
In January 1953, the Indian government sent an aide memoire to the Portuguese government pointing out that "political barriers artificially created by an accident of history for which no justification existed at the present time can no longer stem the rising tide of the national urge for unity." Further the government assured the Portuguese Government that it would "maintain cultural and other rights, including language, laws and customs of the inhabitants of these territories and make no changes in such and like matters except with their consent." When the Portuguese Government refused to respond to the aides memoirs, the Indian government, on 11 June 1953, withdrew its diplomatic mission from Lisbon. Lambert Mascarenhas, "Goa's Freedom Movement," excerpted from Henry Scholberg, Archana Ashok Kakodkar and Carmo Azevedo, Bibliography of Goa and the Portuguese in India New Delhi, Promilla (1982)
In the course of 1954, the Portuguese appealed to Great Britain to bring pressure on India. Foreign secretary Alec Douglas-Home made it absolutely clear that the NATO alliance did not extend to Portuguese entanglements overseas, and that they should not expect anything more than a mediating role. He also warned that if Portugal invoked the old Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, Britain's response would be constrained, as she had no intention of engaging in hostilities with a member of the Commonwealth.Kay (1970), p.323
India attempted to use its position in the Non-Aligned Movement to gain support for its demands, while Portugal, as a founding member of NATO sought support amongst Western nations, as well as with India's rivals, Pakistan and China.Comrades at odds: The United States and India, 1947-1964 By Andrew Jon Rotter Pg 185
Estrangement By 1954, the government of India instituted visa restrictions on travel from Goa to India which paralysed travel between Goa and other Portuguese exclaves in India. Meanwhile, the Indian union of dock workers had, in 1954, instituted a boycott on shipping to Portuguese India.Sankar Ghose (1993) Jawaharlal Nehru: A biography. Mumbai: Allied. p.283
Between 22 July and 2 August 1954, armed activists—variously described by some as members of United Front of Goans under the leadership of Mr Francis MascarenhasGoa's Freedom Movement supported by regular troops and reserve police forces attacked and forced the surrender of Portuguese forces stationed in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. In anticipation of this operation, India sealed the border on 28 June 1954 and prevented the Portuguese from dispatching armed forces from coastal Damman to the inland enclaves.P.W. Prabhakar (2003) Wars, proxy-wars and terrorism: post independent India New Delhi: Mittal, p.39
On 30 November 1954, António Salazar addressed the Portuguese parliament, laying out the Portuguese position on Goa. Salazar dismissed India's claims to the territories as a 'fantasy', and lauded Goans for their steadfast patriotism in the face of 'Indian provocations'.Subsequently translated and published as António de Oliveira Salazar (1956) Goa and the Indian Union: the Portuguese view, Agência Geral do Ultramar.
Satyagraha movement and breakdown of negotiations
On 15 August 1954, the Portuguese resisted an attempt by 49"Goan Liberation March Dwindles To Gesture Chiefly by Teen-Agers; Nehru Calls for Restoration of the Portuguese Enclave, but Eases Tensions; Goan 'Liberation' Cut to a Gesture", The New York Times, 16 August 1954 Sec. 1; "A Trickle into Goa", The Times (London), 16 August 1954 non-violent Satyagrahi activists to march into Goa and hoist the Indian flag on Tiracol Fort resulting in deaths and injuries amongst the activists.
On 15 August 1955, 3–5,000 unarmed Indian activistsSankar Ghose (1993) Jawaharlal Nehru: A biography. Mumbai: Allied. p.282 attempted to enter Goa at six locations and were violently repulsed by Portuguese police officers, resulting in the deaths of between 21"Indian Volunteers Invade Goa; 21 Die; Unarmed Indians March into Goa", The New York Times, 15 August 1955 and 30Christophe Jaffrelot, The Hindu Nationalist Movement in India, Columbia University Press, 1998 people. In one incident at Banda, Portuguese and Goan policemen armed with rifles and sten guns and assisted by Portuguese and African soldiers from Mozambique opened fire on a group of 30 unarmed activists wounding one woman and two men in the presence of international journalists. The shooting stopped when CBS cameraman Arthur Bonner and United Press International correspondent John Hlavacek, intervened and rescued the injured activists.
The news of the shooting built public opinion in India against the Portuguese. Communist parties led protests marked by rioting in several locations as well as fomenting strikes in several factories demanding an armed response. Nehru described the Portuguese reaction as "brutal and uncivilized in the extreme." but added: "We will not be forced or hustled into what we consider wrong action. The Portuguese are deliberately trying to provoke us."
The press in India was sharply critical of Nehru's position on Goa. The Times of India attacked him for "vacillation, contradiction and appeasement", while the Bombay Free Press Journal accused him of "obliquely encouraging the satyagrahis with vague, irresponsible statements that satyagraha will solve the problems of Goan freedom." On 25 July 1955 Indian Government declared in Lok Sabha that Portuguese's were asked to close their offices in New Delhi.
Subsequent to the incidents on 15 August 1955, the Government of India imposed restrictions on people going to Goa as satyagrahis. On 1 September 1955, India shut its consulate in Goa.Francisco Monteiro – India supported banditry in Goa
In August 1955, Portuguese prime minister António de Oliveira Salazar stated that there would be no transfer to sovereignty "by peaceful means." On 17 September 1955, Nehru stated that reliance on peaceful methods to bring Goa into India "is not only a sound policy, but the only possible policy."After Nehru, Who? by Welles Hangen, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1963, p. 92
In 1956, Portuguese ambassador to France, Marcello Mathias, along with prime minister Salazar, argued in favour of a referendum in Goa to determine its future. This proposal was however rejected by the ministers for defence and foreign affairs. The demand for a referendum was again made by presidential candidate General Humberto Delgado in 1957.
In 1957, the Indian army deployed anti-aircraft missiles near Daman and Diu airfields and threatened to shoot down any aircraft that strayed into Indian airspace whilst taking off or landing at the newly built airports at these locations. On 3 April 1958, the Indian Government partially lifted the 1955 restrictions on Indian nationals and residents, permitting them to come to Goa, Daman and Diu, which they had been deprived of since the removal of the Indian Consulate in that city (Pangim), at the beginning of blockade and closure of the frontiers.Francisco Monteiro, Chronology of Terrorist Activity Unleashed by the Indian Union Against the Territories of Goa, Damao and Diu
UN involvement in Goa crisis