Round The World
New
Delhi, 22 May 2013
Li Came Visiting
INDIA-CHINA
BHAI BHAI?
By Shreya
Upadhyay
Research
Scholar, School
of International Studies,
JNU
By making India
the first destination of his maiden overseas trip after taking office, Chinese
Premier Li Kequiang has talked a language no other visiting Beijing leader has spoken before. Emphasising
the need for a more nuanced relationship with India, the issues ranged from trade
to civil nuclear co-operation. But, whether New Delhi
should be hopeful of better ties with Beijing
remains to be seen.
Undoubtedly, the three-day visit presented
an opportunity to calm troubled waters after the recent border spat and prepare
a blueprint for cooperation on enhancing trust and avoiding future
confrontations. Notwithstanding, New Delhi papered over differences and concentred
on areas of convergence, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in a rare show of
assertiveness, engaged in plain speak. On many issues beginning with the recent
Chinese incursion in Ladakh, stand on Tibet, management of trans-boundary
Rivers and trade imbalance.
Notably, ties had come under a cloud
when Beijing stationed troops on a desolate but
strategic plateau in Eastern Ladakh. The 23-days
standoff revived distrust for China
in strategic circles with some demanding stringent action. But diplomacy won
the day as after several rounds of talks, New Delhi
and Beijing decided
to return to their original positions.
During Li’s visit, both sides agreed
on encouraging their Special Representatives to push forward the negotiation
process towards a mutually acceptable settlement. Specially, as the process has virtually been
at a standstill despite 15 rounds of talks.
Pertinently, Beijing and its State-controlled media have
also been playing down the border issue. The media not only portrayed Li’s
visit as a new chapter in Sino-India ties but also published several editorial
pieces rubbishing the “string of pearls” theory of encircling India just
prior to Li’s visit. Also, in a recent article, the Chinese Ambassador to India
Wei Wei stated that China had
legitimate interest in the Indian Ocean and India lawful interest in the Pacific,
both not contradictory with each other.
In fact, prior to his visit, Li said India
and China “must shake hands”
to make Asia an “engine of the world’s
economy”. The discussions seemed to emphasise the larger strategic and global
nature of the relationship touching subjects like civil nuclear co-operation,
fighting sea piracy and non-traditional threats to maritime security.
Pertinently, despite
Chinese assertiveness on regional issues, its mention of “core interest” has
rung alarm bells. Add to this, a Chinese think tank recently published a ‘blue
book’ which hinted at the possibility of India
having a limited two-front war with Pakistan
and China
thereby fuelling mutual mistrust further.
The Chinese
suspicion of India could be gauged
from the fact that Li raised Tibet
and made evident Chinese displeasure on India-based Tibetan exiles thumping up
sentiments against his country during his visit. He also named the Dalai Lama
as one of the key people promoting unrest in Tibet. However, Singh underscored India’s policy whereby
the Dalai Lama was a respected spiritual leader who was not allowed to engage
in political activities herein.
Another issue that has plagued ties is the management of trans-boundary Rivers
thanks to China’s plans to
build dams on the Brahmaputra. Even as New Delhi has time and again maintained that the proposal
to construct dams at Dagu, Jiacha and Jiexu in Tibet
would affect water flow to India,
Beijing
continues to assert that it was just run-of-the-river project that would not
hold water.
Recall, the issue was also discussed during Foreign Minister Salman
Khurshid’s recent China
visit. While the two sides have agreed to strengthen cooperation and sharing
data, a threadbare discussion is required as China
plans for Yarlsung Tsangpo, which feeds into Siang and Brahmaputra in India.
No matter, these political and
strategic infirmities, economic cooperation between
the two Asian giants has accelerated in recent years. China
is India’s
largest trading partner which exports goods from Ganesha idols to mobile phones, laptops and other electronic
products wherein bilateral trade has risen to nearly US$ 70 billion.
Both sides have set a goal of US$100 billion trade by 2015. However, India's trade deficit with China has grown
to a $29 billion in 2012, in spite of of a drop in bilateral trade compared to 2011.
Besides, Li’s visit was largely
business oriented to boost bilateral trade and more access to Indian goods,
spelling good news for Indian companies especially IT and pharmaceutical firms
who are trying for a greater foothold in the Chinese market. Towards that end,
the Chinese Premier came with a large business delegation, addressed a
gathering of CEOs from both countries to tackle the trade deficit issue. He also visited Tata Consultancy
Services as it has had some success in cracking the Chinese market.
Undeniably, both Governments have put
bilateral relations on the top burner. Whereby, Li’s visit saw several
agreements being signed, on Kailash Mansarovar, micro-irrigation, urban waste
water management and bovine meat exports to China.
Yet, several areas of discord continue
to haunt ties. One, the joint statement issued during Li’s visit, did not
include India’s affirmation
of One-China principle, (Tibet
and Taiwan as Chinese territories),
a continuation of New Delhi’s “retaliation” 2010
policy when Beijing issued stapled visas to
travellers from Jammu and Kashmir.
Till date China’s position
on Kashmir remains vague, while India’s
efforts to strengthen its position on terrorism
in the region have failed to take constructive shape because of Beijing’s close ties with Islamabad.
Needless to say, the Pakistan factor
has an important bearing on India-China relations. Given that Li flew to Islamabad
from New Delhi,
whereby both sides signed another accord on development of Gwadar port. There
is a possibility of the port being converted to a naval base in future. Indeed,
both countries are working on naval and nuclear cooperation which are set to
enter an advanced stage, enough to make New
Delhi feverish. Whereby, Chinese
naval arms transfers to Pakistan
have acquired new intensity and are creating a basis for interoperability
between the two navies.
Clearly, Sino-India talks on shared
regional and global interest cannot gloss over China’s
alliance with Pakistan
and position on several geo-political issues. More
immediately, Beijing has opposed India's integration with the global nuclear
order on several forums and is determined to ensure Pakistan's
nuclear parity with India. There is no gainsaying that China has been pursuing its growing stakes in
the Indian Ocean rapidly. In this scenario India too needs
to work towards maintaining its core interests. ---- INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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