Chinese President Xi Jinping broke the long standing tradition, and in a rare instance of goodwill gesture, received Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his home town of Xian, far away from Beijing. Obviously, this was in response to how Modi had given him warm welcome in Ahmedabad when Xi visited India last year. This could be interpreted as a happy beginning of PM’s three-day visit to China for which our Ministry of External Affairs had been working hard for several months in the past.
Our relations with China have remained strained for some decades in the past. Apart from border dispute between the two countries and China’s rather unfriendly attitude in bilateral as well as in multilateral relations, China’s spurious claim over the eastern Indian State of Arunachal has been a source of irritation between the two countries. No less is China’s aggressive posture manifesting itself occasionally at Sino-Indian border in Ladakh region.
These irritants notwithstanding, definitely there has been a thaw in frozen relationship which speaks of matured statesmanship on both sides. The bottom line of a new phase in relationship is the realization on both sides that cooperation on bilateral level should not be the final goal of revitalized relations but that they should take bigger part in ushering in the Asian century. The concept of India and China together giving new shape to the destiny of Asian countries through widening the scope of trade, commerce, cooperation for development in a number of fields should bind the two countries in close comradeship. This has been the crux of the joint statement issued in Xian after the meeting of two leaders was concluded.
In the second leg of bilateral talks, Prime Minister Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang held comprehensive talks on a variety of subjects of bilateral interest. Their respective delegations have also signed about twenty-four agreements that cover a vast field of joint enterprise like railways, mining, education, space, quality supervision and inspection, film and television, ocean, earthquake science and exchanges between political parties, think tanks and various localities of the two countries
Interestingly, Modi did not mince words when he took up the issue of border dispute and said that the time had come when it has to be resolved without prejudice to respective position along the LAC. He argued that demarcation of the border was necessary so that peace and tranquillity were assured and no space was left for mutual suspicions and doubts. Giving a practical proof of his large-heartedness, Modi said that India would shift to e-visa status for Chinese nationals who intend to visit India. He was doing this despite caution by intelligence agencies. It showed that India was willing to walk two steps against one step from Beijing. However, the two countries need to be sensitive to each other and appreciate their respective approach to bilateral problems. Modi has also taken with his counterpart the question of huge deficit in Indo-Chinese trade and demanded that the position needed to be rectified.
It is true that slowly and steadily, the two countries are veering round the thinking that irritants in bilateral relations need to be removed with patience and perseverance. In this connection a couple of steps have been taken. For instance, hot line between the two militaries has been approved. Previously there was nothing of the sort. With the establishment of hotline, it will be possible for field commanders to contact each other in case there is apprehension of straying into unauthorized territory along the border. The second step that would contribute to strengthening of understanding is agreement on increasing the number of border meeting points of their military personnel from the existing four to six. Both sides believe that such meetings are an “important guarantor” for the development and continued growth of ties.
On his part, Premier Li shared the statement of PM Modi that the border dispute should not prevent progress in India-China ties which have been “complex” in the recent decades. The joint statement said the Chinese side took note of India’s aspirations to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), in a bid to strengthen international non-proliferation efforts. Though there is no commitment that Beijing would formally support such a suggestion but that it has taken note of India’s aspiration is at least deviation from China’s old rigid stand on the issue.
It is obvious that the two sides will have to walk slowly and steadily to build a new edifice of bilateral relationship. This cannot be done in one go. If peripheral issues are resolved in a peaceful manner, a day will not be far away when the core issues that bedevil relations will also be tackled amicably. Modi has definitely made a mark in opening new chapter of relationship with China. It is a victory of mature diplomacy and seasoned statesmanship. The primary task is to remove the cobwebs of doubts and suspicions and that can be done by increasing cooperation in fields of trade, commerce, education, technology etc. Nothing extraordinary has to be expected from the visit of the Prime Minister because the bridges which he wants to build take time.
The last but not the least good outcome of the visit is the resolve of both countries to meet the challenge posed to modern society by extremism and terrorism. Both are committed to eradication of this menace from the globe. That brings great relief to the vast majority of mankind.
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