B.K. Nehru, Indian Ambassador to the United States, said yesterday that China's attack on India was an attempt to dominate India, militarily and psychologically, and thereby dominate the whole of Asia.

Speaking at Barnard Hall after a luncheon sponsored by the Harvard-Radcliffe International Relations Council, Nehru discussed both the China-India and the Pakistan-India disputes. He said that the border dispute was primarily a side issue; the basic problem was "related to the conflict between the Chinese and the Indian way of life."

All of Asia, he stated, is struggling with one problem--poverty. "We are all groping for the best social and political organization that will remove this problem--India chose democracy, China chose communism.

"As long as India continues to make progress without destroying individual liberties, she will have a considerable influence on the countries of Asia and Africa," he commented. He added that if this influence continues, these countries will probably have free governments.

China's Attack Economic

China wants satellite countries in Asia and so would fight India's influence for both ideological and political reasons, Nehru said. Since India's influence lies in her economic progress, China's counter-attack is basically economic, not military, he explained.

A large proportion of her limited economic resources must now be directed towards defense, so India's two alternatives are either "slowing down the pace of economic development or forcing the country to take on the extra burden of defense." The country cannot afford to slow down its rate of growth, he said, so China is "out to destroy the Indian way of life by fomenting discontent."

Thinks Attack Unlikely

Nehru felt that China would probably not attack India again, as the threat of an attack is enough to force India to maintain her military strength.

The Kashmir dispute is even less likely to be resolved than the China border problem, he said. "There are many unsettled problems in this world and this is one of them." After a 15 year de facto partition of the country among India, Pakistan, and China, in the last few months "negotiators have finally agreed that the solution is no longer a plebiscite but is instead a formal partition of Kashmir," Nehru said. The situation now appears to be permanently deadlocked, however, over where the partition would be drawn.