NEW DELHI, June 28 -- A veteran Indian diplomat and scholar said on Saturday that 60 years after the birth of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence have survived historical test and have significant meaning for world peace and development.

The peace code was expressed by the consensus of China, India and Myanmar.

In an interview with Xinhua, T.C.A. Rangachari, Director of the Academy of International Studies at jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi, said at the time of the birth of the code, Asian and African countries were launching a whole process of decolonization.

The 66-year-old scholar, who served as Indian ambassador to France, Germany and Algeria, said although the United Nations Charter also established some key principles for building post-war world order, but they were drafted by big powers of that time.

"There were instances of some of the principles of the U.N. Charter being violated by colonialist countries immediately after it came into being. At that time, the U.N. had only some 50 members. Today it has over 190. Therefore, the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence remains essential for making clear to the world the basis for global relationship," said Rangachari.

He said in the 60 years after the birth, the principles have played a major role in the maintenance of world peace and development, and its concepts of mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression., mutual non- interference in internal affairs, equality and cooperation for mutual benefit and peaceful co-existence have become the basis for ensuring the building of a fair and just international order.

He said although the U.N. and founding countries of the principles China and India included were unable to enforce the implementation of the principles in the past, it was not out of lack of interest ,but out of lack of capacities.

He said India and China have more succeeded in ensuring that the principles be adhered to compared with others in the same position and today the capabilities of India and China would ensure that the principles be observed better than before, due to the increasingly important role being played by emerging economies on the present global stage and world environment.