Bharat SainiLast Updated on April 27, 2017 by Bharat Saini
China is gravely concerned over Dalai Lama’s Arunachal visit and there are threats, through the Chinese Media, that it will cause serious damage to ties with India; as in China’s opinion the 14th Dalai Lama is by no means a spiritual leader but a Tibetan separatist. Critics in China opine that it is a critical period for China and India to further upgrade bilateral ties and the recently picked up good momentum for the bilateral relationship should not be disrupted as there is great potential for the two countries to have cooperation.
At a time when world is experiencing volatility, mainly due to recent surprise foreign and trade policy moves by the new US administration under Donald Trump, India’s Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s visit to Beijing, on February 22, 2017; at the initiative of China, where a restructured Strategic Dialogue with Chinese executive Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhang Yesui was very fruitful, is in no doubt an attempt by both sides to stabilise relations between the two most populous countries and the fastest growing major economies in the world. Both sides discussed the whole gamut of their relations besides Joint Development Projects in Afghanistan, where both China and India see potential for investment and share concerns over the rise of radicalism and terrorism. The avenues for cooperation that might be undertaken include tapping large mineral resources of Afghanistan the recent reports suggest huge deposits of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium are large enough to transform Afghanistan into one of the most important mining centers in the world. During the summit there was broad agreement on trade and economic ties, with Chinese officials reportedly admiring India’s measures to welcome investment and facilitate visas for closer business ties. The tripartite meeting among representatives of India, China and Afghanistan focussed attention on solving the Afghan imbroglio and the role New Delhi and Beijing could play in this.
Improvements in diplomatic and economic influence has imparted significance to the bilateral China–India or Sino-Indian relations relationship that historically is more than 2,000 years old where the modern relationship began in 1950 when India was among the first countries to end formal ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan) and recognize People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the legitimate government of Mainland China.
to end formal ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan) and recognize the PRC as the legitimate government of Mainland China
There are contentious issues such as:
- India’s admission into the Nuclear Supplies Group(NSG),
- Declaring JeM leader Masood Azhar as terrorist by the United Nationsand
- India’s concerns over USD 51 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) going through Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
- India’s concern over China’s proposed nuclear deal with Pakistan under which it will provide two nuclear reactors to Pakistan.
Bilateral relations between India and China face a formidable challenge with the Global Conference on the Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI) or One Belt, One Road or the Silk Road Initiate; that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s is hosting in May 2017; where all of India’s land and maritime neighbours will participate. As the $51 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), now an integral part of the B&RI initiative, runs through areas of PoK, India had made it clear that it would not take part.
Now that China and India have come to a critical period to further upgrade bilateral ties, these contentious issues must be addressed but the larger picture that is to be kept in mind is that bilateral trade between China and India last year exceeded $70 billion, whereas it was hardly USD 2 billion in 1990 and such developments bring in multiple challenges that the two big developing countries face. They need to be more sensitive to each other’s concerns to address contentious issues and at the same time differences should not be allowed to stop their relations from moving forward. As the two biggest emerging economies, they have vast common interests on establishing a new global financial order, tackling climate change and other major issues.
