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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  India, China seek to rewrite relations
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India, China seek to rewrite relations

Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping set out blueprint to strengthen economic, cultural ties even as India raises concerns over border

Ahead of his talks with Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping hailed the benefits of stronger ties to ‘bring benefits to the 2.5 billion people in China and India’. Photo: ReutersPremium
Ahead of his talks with Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping hailed the benefits of stronger ties to ‘bring benefits to the 2.5 billion people in China and India’. Photo: Reuters

New Delhi: India and China have formally committed to a new beginning that has the potential to dramatically alter the status quo between the two countries and consequently change several global and regional strategic equations.

In a sign of maturing relations, both sides engaged in a frank discussion on a host of issues including the six-decade-long border dispute over which the two countries once went to war. At the same time, the two countries set out a blueprint to strengthen economic and cultural relations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi signalled his intent when he said stability and prosperity could be achieved by overcoming the trust deficit between the two countries. “We can give new direction and energy to the global economy," he said.

By going the extra mile and publicly hosting his counterpart in Gujarat, Modi sought to deliberately inject warmth into the dialogue between the two countries that together account for one-third of the global population.

On his part, China’s President Xi Jinping described India-China relations as being at “a new starting point" and added that the two leaders had discussed “all aspects of the China India relations".

Conventionally, the relations between the two countries has veered between hostility and an uneasy coexistence. The relations between the two countries have been further strained by China’s proximity to Pakistan and repeated statements from both the US and India that the world’s largest economy saw the world’s largest democracy as an effective regional counter to the world’s most populous nation. By committing to a cordial relationship, the two sides have laid the basis for rewriting these and other geostrategic relationships.

Responding to the unprecedented reception accorded to him, Xi seemed willing to acknowledge India’s concerns on trade and border issues while inking a dozen pacts, including two on the upgrade of railway infrastructure and another that promised $20 billion Chinese investments over the next five years. That number needs to be seen in the context of the around $400 million of investments that have flowed from China to India over the past 14 years.

“At a strategic level, both sides agreed to address and resolve issues, recognizing that there was a lot India and China could do together if these issues are resolved," said a government official familiar with the talks between Modi and Xi in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Modi was keen to balance the $65 billion in annual trade between the two countries that is heavily tilted in China’s favour. Xi promised more access for India’s pharmaceutical, farming and fuel products as a counter.

Both sides also agreed to set up two industrial parks in India—one in Modi’s home state of Gujarat for power production and transmission equipment and another in Maharashtra for manufacturing auto components.

Both were part of the “Five-year Trade and Economic Development Plan" signed by commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Chinese counterpart Gao Hucheng in the presence of Modi and Xi.

The Xi-Modi meeting was incrementally different from previous engagements between leaders of the two countries, said Srikanth Kondapalli, a professor of East Asian studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Modi, he added, has been able to get more out of China, although “one will have to wait and see how much things fructify".

In a first of sorts, Modi underlined India’s security concerns publicly in his closing statement. On previous occasions, senior Indian foreign ministry officials have briefed the press about the interactions and there have been no media statements, leave alone press conferences.

“We are both undergoing economic transformation on an unprecedented scale and speed. Therefore, a climate of mutual trust and confidence, respect for each other’s sensitivities and concerns, and peace and stability in our relations and along our borders are essential for us to realize the enormous potential in our relations. If we achieve that, we can reinforce each others economic growth," Modi said before specifically referring to the India-China border dispute dating back to their brief but bitter war in 1962.

Addressing the joint media gathering, Modi said: “I raised our serious concern over repeated incidents along the border. We agreed that peace and tranquillity in the border region constitutes an essential foundation for mutual trust and confidence and for realizing the full potential of our relationship. This is an important understanding, which should be observed diligently."

The Chinese President’s response to Modi’s address was measured, but not contradictory.

“The two sides agreed that the leaders of the two countries should provide strategic depth to the our relationship, strengthen relations at all levels and push forward our bilateral relations," Xi said, adding that he had invited Modi to visit China early next year.

On the issue of incursions along the border, Xi said: “Sometimes there might be certain incidents, but the two sides are fully capable of acting promptly to effectively manage the situation...

“What is important for China and India is to face the boundary question and seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution at an early date through peaceful and friendly consultations," Xi said.

China claims 90,000 sq. km of Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh and occupies around 38,000 sq. km in Jammu and Kashmir. Also, under an agreement signed between Pakistan and China in March 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq. km of Indian territory in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to China. India and China regularly accuse each other of incursions into the other’s territory, the latest being media reports of two face-offs in Kashmir over the past few days.

“While our border-related agreements and confidence-building measures have worked well, I also suggested that clarification of Line of Actual Control (LAC) would greatly contribute to our efforts to maintain peace and tranquillity and requested President Xi to resume the stalled process of clarifying the LAC. We should also seek an early settlement of the boundary question," Modi said.

“Similarly, we discussed India’s concerns relating to China’s visa policy and trans-border rivers. I am confident that their satisfactory resolution would take mutual trust to a new level," he said, referring to two other core concerns of India—China issuing stapled visas to people living in Arunachal Pradesh and diverting waters from rivers flowing from China into India.

Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal said that if this was Modi’s statement in public, “privately he would have said even more".

Kondapalli agreed that “Modi had put forth his views more forcefully" than his predecessor Manmohan Singh. “This can be attributed to the majority he has in Parliament", he said referring to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party winning 282 seats in the Lok Sabha, a clear majority, in the recent elections.

In a speech later on Thursday, Xi said China would support India becoming a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional security body that includes China and Russia and also backed India’s aspiration to play a greater role at the United Nations, including on the Security Council. “I wish to make it clear that China will be firmly committed to the path of peaceful development," he said at the event organized by the Indian Council of World Affairs in New Delhi.

President Pranab Mukherjee, in his speech at a banquet in honour of the Chinese president, said the two nations “now need to take it (bilateral relationship) to a level where our programmes and initiatives facilitate the realization of our common goals of progress and prosperity".

Kondapalli said China and India were sending out interesting signals to the world. The chemistry between the two men (Modi and Xi) was good and set the stage for a more personalized relationship over the next few years, he said. “For the sake of stability, for the sake of economic relations...this bodes well," he said.

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Published: 18 Sep 2014, 10:21 AM IST
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