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Pakistan wary of growing China-India
ties
By Miriam Kagan
WASHINGTON - As Chinese and Indian officials
basked in a display of improved relations this week -
Beijing hosted a meeting on agricultural cooperation and
the countries held first-ever joint naval exercises -
Chinese officials rushed to calm Pakistani apprehensions
about the growing closeness of the South Asian giants.
The traditionally frosty relationship between
China and India - a result of a decades-old border
dispute and India's welcoming of the Dalai Lama (the
spiritual leader of Buddhism exiled from Tibet by China
in the 1950s)- began to warm with a state visit by
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to China in
June.
It thawed further with this week's "The
Dragon and the Elephant - Rural Development and
Agricultural Reform Experiences in China and India", a
conference organized by the Chinese Academy of
Agricultural Sciences and the Washington-based
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
The meeting brought together scientists, policymakers
and researchers from the two nations to learn from one
another and explore avenues of cooperation in
agricultural matters.
"China and India are two
of the world's biggest players in the global economy,
and are projected to show continued, strong economic
growth in the coming decades," said IFPRI director
general Joachim von Braun in the conference opening
statement. "Yet they are also home to almost half the
world's poor. Working to reduce poverty and malnutrition
in these countries should be a primary focus," he added.
Both China and India have shown strong recent
economic growth. A study by Goldman-Sachs predicts China
will overtake Germany in economic output by 2008, Japan
by 2015 and the United States by 2040. The same study
predicts India will overtake Germany's output by 2023
and that of Japan by 2033.
Indo-China trade has
also grown substantially. In 2002, bilateral trade was
valued at US$5 billion. It is expected to grow to $8
billion this year. The rapid growth has created an
income gap between urban dwellers and rural residents,
particularly in China.
In his statement, von
Braun suggested that gap could be lessened. "This can be
done through investment in infrastructure, information
technology and innovative institutions. The poverty and
growth problem of rural areas cannot just be addressed
in rural areas, but through a strategy of improved
economy-wide linkages. The backbone of rural growth,
however, is agriculture," he added. Conference
participants will spend the next year working together
to evaluate past programs and search for common
solutions.
In a further sign of improving
relations, China and India have conducted a first-ever
joint naval exercise off the coast of Shanghai.
According to the Associated Press, Chinese foreign
ministry spokesman Lia Jianchao told reporters the
exercises were meant to "further enhance relations and
improve further understanding between the two sides".
China's traditional ally Pakistan has watched
the improvement in relations with apprehension.
Vajpayee's June visit was immediately followed by a trip
to Beijing by Pakistan President General Pervez
Musharraf. During Musharraf's visit, the two countries
signed deals, including a preferential trade agreement
and a promise to cooperate against Muslim separatists in
China's Northwestern Xinjiang province.
Pakistani officials are worried that better
relations between China and India might work against
Pakistan in its own disputes with India, including over
the Kashmir border area and on water rights. So Chinese
officials rushed to reassure Pakistan. As the naval
exercises continued, Chinese officials met with
Pakistan's deputy defense minister for talks on
expanding military equipment purchases; China is
Pakistan's main arms supplier. "China has normal
state-to-state relations with Pakistan, and this
exercise will not affect relations with Pakistan," Liu
told reporters.
According to Robert LaPorte Jr
of Pennsylvania State University, Pakistan should not be
threatened by warming relations between Indian and
China. LaPorte told IPS that China and Pakistan are so
strategically intertwined, it would not be in Beijing's
interest to alienate its nuclear, Muslim neighbor. China
understands that Pakistan's participation will be
essential to the region's development, he added.
LaPorte noted that Pakistan is the only Muslim
nuclear power bordering Asia and the Middle East.
Alienating Pakistan could mean pushing the nation into
the arms of Muslim fundamentalists, a future both China
and India, who struggle with religious divisions at
home, are eager to avoid.
(Inter Press
Service)
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