It is necessary for India to develop robust relations with China. But the Modi Government must not go overboard in its zeal. The simmering border dispute has to be resolved. Without a resolution, no amount of trade links will work
The state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India, is being hailed as a historic visit which could change the dynamics of India-China relationship radically. Every state visit by an Indian Prime Minister to China and by a Chinese President to India has been described as historic.
We Indians are good at using superlatives and adjectives for almost everything. I am not saying that the Mr Xi Jinping’s visit was not important. But the adjectives and superlatives must get translated into concrete action.
Mr Xi landed in India two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much publicised state visit to Japan. India, China and Japan are the three superpowers in Asia. Both India and Japan don’t trust the Chinese Government, and the Chinese are also wary of the two. Those who know the history of modern Asia, would know the reasons for this.
The day Mr Xi and Mr Modi embraced each other and enjoyed the cool breeze on the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad, the Chinese Army entered the Indian side of the line of Actual Control and set up camps. It led to a media frenzy and critics of Mr Modi attacked him for breaking bread with Mr Xi when our own land is under attack by a Chinese Army battalion in Chumar sector of the ladakh region in Jammu & Kashmir.
Addressing the media, Mr Xi admitted that there was a transgression by his side and blamed the confusion over the authenticity of the lAC for these repeated ‘infiltrations’ by the Chinese.
In an interesting article in ‘Scroll’, Dibyesh Anand, a professor at the University of Westminster in london, writes: “Through history, China and India have not been neighbours. The current de facto border has its genesis in a line drawn on a map by Henry McMahon during a secret treaty between Britain and Tibet in March 1914. Both entities, British India and Tibet, are no more: One has been transformed into post-colonial India and the other was occupied and colonised by communist China. Yet, India and China, both of whom have overthrown the mantle of Western imperialism, are jostling over the same imperialists’ line — and have completely militarised and destroyed traditional zone of contact that the border regions were.
“The border is a legacy of a few dynamics, including the expansionist policies of the British in the Himalayan regions of India, the disappearance of the traditional Tibetan state, which had political and sacral hegemony over much of the region, and the modern nationalisms in post-colonial India and revolutionary China, which are keen on implementing a rigid notion of sovereignty in the border regions and legitimising the primacy of militarised security over the religious, cultural and human rights of the people inhabiting the region”.
It is a well-argued piece indeed. However, even 67 years after Independence, both India and China have not been able to sort out the boundary dispute. India has even lost a war with China in 1962. It took us another 25 years to normalise the relationship with China, during Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure in the late 1980s. In my opinion, the most important neighbour of India is China, not Pakistan. Pakistan is an artificial country built on religious lines with no substance or a strong foundation. To justify its everyday existence, Pakistan will have to keep anti-India sentiments alive and encourage terrorism. Its purpose of existence ends with this.
But, China is an altogether different country. like India, it is also an ancient civilisation and is making great progress in the field of economy. As a Reuters article says, the Chinese President believes that both India and China will be the economic powerhouse of the world in the next five to 10 years. During the just concluded visit, economic co-operation dominated bilateral talks. China has promised a huge investment in India in the coming days.
Mr Modi, who is a shrewd ‘businessman’ and a clever politician, did not mince words. He categorically told Mr Xi that border issues with China must end amicably to make our relationship stronger and more meaningful.
There is a race among the developed nations and our neighbours to woo India. Mr Modi is cleverly using it for the benefit of India; though every Government since the PV Narasimha Rao-led Congress Government at the Centre has contributed immensely to the economic growth of India.
However, in his eagerness to impress foreign powers and people back home, Mr Modi should not try to over-please these powers, be it China or Japan. Every nation does business with other nations keeping its own benefit in the mind. Rushing into business deals without settling core issues like border disputes won’t help us in the long run. He must ensure that he is friendly with China only on business issues and firm on border disputes.
On the other hand, both India and China have maintained cordial trade and person-to-person relationships, keeping the border dispute on the back-burner. But, we cannot afford to have that forever. One day or the other, border disputes have to be resolved. As a Member of Parliament, I feel this is the right time for us to settle border issues with China once and for all.
We have had a troubled past with each other and must tread cautiously. True, there is an element of confusion in India-China relations. But then, as legendary American broadcast journalist Edward R Murrow famously said, “Anyone who isn’t confused really doesn’t understand the situation.”
(The writer is lok Sabha MP from Nizamabad in Telangana)