|
|
|
|
India sets the stage for China
visit
By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - Furious work is in progress
in preparation of perhaps the most high-profile visit
short of US President George W Bush arriving in
India. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will be
in India from April 9-12 to tie up several ends,
the least being the consequences of the pro-India
overtures by the Bush dispensation, as well as to
discuss a grand alliance of Asian nations spanning
Russia-China-India on the lines of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to take on the
Atlantic alliance and the US.
It is not
without reason that in his first meeting with
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year,
Wen remarked, "When we shake hands, the whole
world will be watching." Reiterating his earlier
pledge, Wen has already described his India visit
as the most important event in his calendar this
year.
In his first
comment, Manmohan said Wednesday that he was looking
forward to Wen's visit. Speaking in Mauritius,
where he is currently visiting, Manmohan said
he hoped China and India could agree on
guiding principles for resolving the two countries' border
issues and that there should be a joint effort to
find common ground. Manmohan said the populations
of China and India accounted for about one-third of
the planet, and the establishment of friendly
relations between the two countries would have a
great impact on Asia and the world.
Chinese officials have laid virtual siege
at the Foreign Ministry in Delhi, spanning out in
teams to discuss various aspects of the slew of
treaties and agreements that Wen and Manmohan are
due to sign. The omnipresent, if not overbearing,
presence of the US is very much evident. As one
official remarked, "The Chinese have been
observing the US's intentions of closely engaging
India by transferring nuclear technology for
energy, arms supplies, talks on missile defense as
well as stepping up economic relations. The
response of China will be equally powerful.
Instead of taking on the US single-handedly, China
will seek to work out a grand alliance of nations
including India and Russia that will be able to
take on the economic and military might of US.
People right now talk of a unipolar world, by the
quarter of this century the world will be bipolar,
with China as the power to be reckoned with, and
by the half of the century tripolar with India in
the picture."
It is obvious that China is
still smarting from the visit of US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice and the highlighting of
issues that always raise the hackles of the
Chinese establishment - democracy, human rights
and Taiwan. Rice espouses the cause of India as a
counterweight to rising Chinese power in Asia and
the imprints of her views are only being more
clearly established. China is concerned about an
anti-China "Asian NATO" front with Japan,
Australia and India joining the US to "contain"
China.
There is more than one reason
China wants to build its relationship with India. It
is looking to sign a "friendship treaty" similar
to the one with Russia with the intention of
checking expanding US and European military as well
as economic global influences. India, which
follows a "one China" policy is keen to engage
with any nation that brings about a structural
change to its economy.
Economic
synergies
Indeed, if there is one defining
aspect that has tilted India toward building
bridges with China, it has been trade. With a high
level of growth and rising incomes, the Indian
economy presents enormous potential, and so do the
Chinese for India.
With US$13 billion
in bilateral trade, up from $1 billion a year
a decade back, an India-China joint group has
been studying the synergies of a possible free-trade
agreement (FTA), which is being opposed by certain
quarters of Indian industry - which is also
against regional FTAs with Thailand and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations - due to
the fear of Chinese dumping on the Indian market.
The feeling, though, is that Indian industry is
driven by a protectionist instinct that they need
to shun and learn how to stand up to international
competition.
Further economic
synergies are being worked out in light of Sino-Indian
joint bidding in international energy
projects, particularly in third countries. The
energy ministers will appoint a joint task force to
work out the details, and if there is convergence,
an agreement could well be in the offing. In
an indication of Chinese willingness to study as
well as cooperate with India's hugely
successful information-technology sector, the Chinese leader
will touch down first in Bangalore on April 9 from
Sri Lanka. Wen will visit the offices of Huawei
Technology, a Chinese IT company, and the Indian
Space Research Organization in Bangalore before
arriving in New Delhi the next day.
The
Indian Express
comments, "Manmohan Singh and Wen Jiabao now
have an opportunity to approach the future bilateral
relationship with a positive and pragmatic mindset.
For a change, they have a growing economic
relationship marked by booming trade, which
reached US$14 billion last year from almost nothing
in the mid-1990s. There is talk of comprehensive economic
cooperation, if not a free-trade area, between
the two Asian giants ... India and China should
be looking to increase the volume of two-way trade
... to about $25 [billion to] $30 billion in
about five years."
Boundary
question
The boundary dispute, however,
still remains the main stumbling block to a
complete overhaul of the Sino-Indian entente.
Although the two countries have agreed not to get
bogged down by territorial disputes, it goes
without saying that there is a need to set up a
framework within which the two countries can
operate in order to move things forward. The two
governments have already appointed special
representatives who have been negotiating over the
past two years. The joint working committee set up
by the two countries on the boundary issue is
scheduled to meet this week in Beijing in a bid to
narrow differences. Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran
and Chinese Vice Minister Wu Dawei will head their
respective delegations.
Matters have come
a long way since the 1962 border war and the
diplomatic spat that followed India's nuclear
tests in 1998. Wen is expected to announce China's
formal acknowledgement of the north Indian state
of Sikkim as a part of the Indian union. The
process of resolving differences over Sikkim was
initiated during then Indian prime minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee's landmark visit to China in 2003,
when the two countries agreed to start trade
across Sikkim's border. Wen is expected to end any
uncertainty on China's part by publicly
acknowledging Sikkim as an Indian state.
Officials, however, talk of one key area
that needs to be resolved before a final
resolution can be reached. China wants major
territorial concessions on Tawang in Arunachal
Pradesh (in northeastern India), which India is in no
position to concede. It is important for India and
China to explore the Tawang question in a manner
that throws up solutions that can finally result
in creating a sound political foundation to the
economic one that is already being laid.
The talk is that India may formally
announce its support to the anti-secession law
passed by Chinese parliament to check any move by
Taiwan to declare independence unilaterally, if
there is progress in the boundary talks. Some 40
countries, including Russia and Pakistan, have
supported the legislation, while India has not
issued any statement so far.
Siddharth Srivastava is a New
Delhi-based journalist.
(Copyright
2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please contact us for information on sales, syndication and republishing.) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
All material on this
website is copyright and may not be republished in any form without written
permission.
© Copyright 1999 - 2005 Asia Times
Online Ltd.
|
|
Head
Office: Rm 202, Hau Fook Mansion, No. 8 Hau Fook St., Kowloon, Hong
Kong
Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
|
|
|
|
