This stamp is the first issued by India as part of the International Commission in Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia).
The Commission was an international effort to implement the Geneva Accords (1954), that ended the First Indochina War (1946-1954). The Accords brought about the partition of Vietnam into what were commonly called North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
Canadian, Polish, and Indian military and diplomatic personnel were sent to manage the peace between the parties.
North Vietnam was put under control of the People’s Army of Vietnam, while the south remained under French Control, ostensibly as part of the French Union.
The French Union, formed in 1946, was an attempt to give French Colonies the eventual status of French States (Departments). This was an attempt to leave the Empire behind.
India was given some administrative duties over the entire region including the formation of a Postal Service.
Four Postal Field Offices were established, one each in Saigon and Hanoi, Vietnam; one in Vientiane, Laos, and the fourth in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Indian stamps were initially used, but a set of 15 overprinted stamps was issued on 12 January 1954 for use at the field offices.
Each of the Commission Partners had 5 of their own stamps.
Five of the issues were, like this one, overprinted with “Antar-Rashtriya Ayog, Cambodoge (Laos) Vietnam” in Hindi in Devnagari script.
This stamp features an elephant motif from the Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra State, India.
Technically the Commission remained in existence until 1973, but the increasing presence of troops from the U.S.A. during the 1960s meant that the Commission was truly powerless well before it was formally disbanded.
The trigger for that abandonment was India recognizing North Vietnam but not South Vietnam.
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