Roads to Delhi 261the Far East, and to the Locarno Conference in 1925 for ingeniously
binding the hands of the German people, once and for all. My thoughts
also went back to the Assembly of the League of Nations, that League of
Nations along whose corridors and lobbies I spent many a day, knock-
ing at one door after another, in the vain attempt to obtain a hearing
for the cause of Indian freedom.The Tokyo conference, he claimed, was different: it had not been con-
vened for “dividing the spoils among the conquerors,” “hatching a con-
spiracy to victimize a weak power,” or “trying to defraud a weak neigh-
bor.” India had by now learned to distinguish between false and real
universalism and favored a true internationalism “which did not ignore
nationalism, but is rooted in it.” An “international society of nations”
could be created, in his view, only on the basis of “regional federa-
tions.”^49 This was not said for the bene fit of his hosts but was some-
thing in which he genuinely believed, since he had called upon the
British Empire in the past to transform itself into a federation of free
nations. Though the Japanese sponsorship of the document was less
than altruistic, the five principles adopted in the joint declaration—
justice, national sovereignty, reciprocity in international relations, mu-
tual aid and assistance, and racial equality—predated by a dozen years
the Panchsheel (“Five Principles”) resolution adopted by Afro- Asian
nations at Bandung in 1955.
Bose’s speech, according to the Japanese record, “held the entire as-
sembly in awe.” His emotions, foresight, vast knowledge, and obvious
strength of character combined to produce an “admirable effect.” As
soon as he ended his address, Tojo rose to reiterate his full support for
Indian in de pen dence and announced his intention to transfer the An-
daman and Nicobar islands to Bose’s Provisional Government “in the
near future.” In the following days, Bose was invited to address a mass
meeting held in Hibiya Park and a smaller gathering in Hibiya Hall. He
persuaded the army chief, General Sugiyama, to regard the INA as an
allied army and to accept his plans regarding the second and third divi-
sions of the INA. He put in requests for equipment to build a navy and
an air force. All Japanese support he treated as loans to be repaid after
in de pen dence, and he undertook to pay for civilian recruits in the INA