Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c14.s4.t32.3

v2.c14.s4.t32.3

He was not only a nationalist, but also a pan-Asianist and a believer in the idea of a World Federation. While in Beijing he established the headquarters of his proposed World Federation and brought out a journal for that purpose. However, his continued espousal of pan-Asianism, even after Japan launched its invasion of Manchuria and then the rest of China, lost him a good part of his support in China. He had to leave China, and remained in Japan for the duration of World War II, until he was finally allowed to return home to India on the eve of its independence in 1946. He continued to be politically active in independent India, and was elected to the lower house of the Indian Parliament. A prolific writer, his books, including *My Life Story* and *Reflections of an Exile*, contain many vivid descriptions of his interesting experiences in Republican China.