By Vijay
Kranti
November 23, 2014
Chinese President Xi Jinpeng and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi |
Chinese President Xi Jinpeng's visit to
India appears to have happened at a time and in an environment that was surely
not tailored in the same fashion as Beijing had got used to dictating since
past many decades. It all started with the inauguration of Mr. Narendra Modi
when the new establishment in New Delhi invited all heads of states from the
neighbourhood except China -- for whatever logic. Subsequently Mr. was made to wait till the
Rath Yatra of Modi diplomacy completed its pilgrimage to nearly each of such
centres of Asia that have been perpetually threatened by the same bully
neighbour that Indian has been dealing with since the geo-political map of Asia
changed with the advent of a Communist ruled China in 1949.
The very first visit of Mr. Modi to Bhutan
was far more than reassuring to this tiny Himalayan nation that has been
feeling uncomfortable pressure from China on a host of delicate issues. It was
soon followed by his visit to Nepal that had already started suffering from the
trauma of a honeymoon gone utterly wrong with her northern neighbour who, she
thought, would countercheck India in Kathmandu's triangular love affair.
The most strategic halt of Mr. Modi's
diplomatic bandwagon was at Japan whose relations with China, thanks to
Beijing's belligerent and bullying postures, have already entered the dangerous zone of
late. Multiplied by the old personal rapport between Mr. Modi and his host
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the duo was able to take India-Japan
relations to a new orbit of mutual interest and cooperation. In this visit Modi-Abe duo gave a clear and
unambiguous signal to their common bête-noir
on who stands where in the most delicate triangle of today's Asia.
If this was not enough for China, Mr.
Modi's government sent Indian President Pranab Mukherjee to China and Vietnam
as the messenger of good will and peace from India. That section of diplomatic
observers who love to interpret developments in more exciting manner than
others, is underlining the fact that Indian President visited Vietnam via China
only to ensure that he was not missed by the Chinese diplomatic radars on his
visit to Vietnam. They specifically underline the timing of this visit.
It may be just a coincidence that only a
day after the Indian President concluded his China visit and signed an
Indo-Vietnam accord on supporting Vietnam in her section of South China Sea, and
a couple of days before the Chinese President Xi Jinpeng started his India
visit, the Chinese troops barged into Indian border area at Chumar in Ladakh.
What followed was something that was never
seen or expected on such moments earlier during Congress dominated rule in New
Delhi when bowing down to Chinese threats and hiding such events from the
public view had come to stay as an accepted norm. Unlike ever in the past, instead
of downplaying the Chinese incursion, the Indian Prime Minister strongly objected
to this act of Chinese army and demanded his guest Mr. Xi to withdraw this
aggression. Mr. Modi's argument that Chinese army could not have taken such a
step without approval of its high command, Mr. Xi, who also happens to be the
head of China's defence forces, had to eat the humble pie. Chinese army contingent vacated this aggression
and moved back to its previous position by 9.45pm on the first night of its
Commander-in-Chief's stay in India.
No surprise that this event took away a lot
of sheen off Mr. Xi's much awaited India visit. It also exposed the Chinese
government's confused mind in dealing with the new Indian government under Mr.
Modi. But it would be too naive to evaluate Mr. Xi's India visit only through
this unfortunate event. The Chinese President's India visit would be remembered
for many firsts in the direction of improving relations between the two
governments and taking good will between the two peoples to a better level in
coming years.
For example, 16 agreements and MOUs between
two sided during Mr. Xi's visit are expected to narrow the trade gap which has
been so far keeping on disadvantage. One
can hope that $20 bn committed as Chinese investment in India and opening of
Chinese market to Indian companies will also contribute towards loosening
political tensions on both sides.
Chinese initiative in improving cooperation
with India in the nuclear field and offering bullet train projects to India are
bound to not only take the relations to a higher pedestal, but will also help India
in negotiating deals with other
countries in similar fields.
Although no visible agreement on solving
the border issue between the two countries has emerged from this visit, but
events related to Ladakh will surely help Mr. Xi and his colleagues to realize
that with new changes in India, the border tension and indecisiveness with
India is no longer going to pay towards taking the relations ahead. Mr. Modi's resolve on this issue is bound to
help the Chinese leadership in amending their attitude not too far in future.
Another interesting change in Chinese
approach that has come to fore during
Mr. Xi's visit is his offer to make India a member of Shanghai Group.
But the way he has demanded membership of SAARC in return of this 'favour', it
may not go down well with the Modi Government because New Delhi is quite wary
of China overwhelming the SAARC to end India's supremacy in this forum. In the
same public speech before a select audience Mr. Xi's attempt to put down India
as a 'small' and a 'regional' power did not contribute much in improving
feelings on the Indian side either.
One expected that Mr. Xi's visit may put an
end to India's concerns over Chinese practice of issuing stapled visas to
Indian citizens from Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal. But not much distance
appears to have been covered. Looking at China's claims over Arunachal Pradesh
as 'Southern Tibet' the issue appears to go from bad to worse in future more
because of internal pressures in China than from India. Chinese think tanks and
government controlled media has raised so much hype over past few years on
Arunachal that it will be difficult for Mr. Xi's government to climb down.
China's offer to open Nathu La road for
Indian Hindu pilgrims to visit Kailash Mansarovar will be seen as a welcome
step in India. But this issue has its disadvantages also like a double edged
knife. It has been seen that most pilgrims on return from the Yatra develop a
feeling of hurt by seeing their holy place under Chinese control.
Still, despite its limitations, Mr. Xi's
India visit has surely taken India-China relations to a better place than ever
in past many decades. At the same time it has added significantly to the
international stature of Modi government in New Delhi in its dealings with
other major countries. Mr. Modi's style of dealing with India's
neighbours, China's foes and now with
China surely marks a qualitative and generic shift of Indian polity from a six
decade old Nehruvian suicidal idealism to a pragmatic and self respecting style
for which Sardar Patel has been always remembered and respected.
NOTE-- Vijay Kranti is a senior Indian journalist, photographer, and Tibetologist, based in New Delhi.
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