Advocating a pragmatic policy

India's policy on China is coloured by previous failures, especially the 1962 war. A new book on the subject stresses the importance of working out a practical policy based on economic interaction and cooperation on issues of common concern, says SONIKA GUPTA.

UNTIL recently, China Studies in India have suffered from a hangover of the 1962 Sino-Indian conflict. In fact, Nehru's personal disillusionment with the failure of his Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai policy has been systematically worked into both policy and academic debates with the result that there has been little forward-looking thinking in the field. In the past few years a momentum has been building up in writing on China to move away from this position. Nimmi Kurian's book successfully breaks out of the 1962 hangover to attempt a mapping of an economically and militarily resurgent China. The strength of the book lies in that it advocates a pragmatic approach towards Sino-Indian relations based on greater economic interaction and cooperation on global issues of common concern. The book has two substantive parts. The first deals with a comprehensive analysis of reasons and results of an emerging China and the second part explores India's policy option vis--vis an emergent China.

According to Kurian, the Indian fascination to view China either as an intimate friend or enemy is incomprehensible. Such an approach has hindered any fruitful engagement with China with the result that India has been unable to build a meaningful relationship with one of its most important neighbours. However, a broader relationship with China must also include an appreciation of India's security concerns vis-a-vis China. Kurian argues that military security is a vital component of a China policy based on the concept of comprehensive security. Kurian's argument addresses the fundamental flaw in Nehru's China Policy (which, incidentally, was the last we had a China policy). Nehru neglected the first rule of international relations when he assumed that extending a hand of friendship towards China meant no vigilance on our part to secure India's borders with China.

Kurian has effectively used the issue of South China Seas to build a case for being vigilant on the strategic front while formulating a policy of greater interaction with China. The Chinese political establishment has time and again stated its desire to have peaceful relations with Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) members to facilitate trade. On the other hand, China has codified in its domestic law the right to use force to defend disputed maritime territories such as Mischief Reef, Fiery Reef and Parcel Islands in the South China Sea, which it has occupied and claims as its own. The argument that China's increased integration with the world economy will act as a deterrent against the use of force by China is countered by Kurian. She says that the increased economic integration is a symbiotic relationship and to expect it to play a moderating role would be an overstatement.

Kurian identifies the triangular relationship between the United States, China and Japan, with the U.S. playing the balancing role, as the pivot of regional security in the Asia Pacific region. However, not enough attention has been paid to a discussion of Sino-U.S. relations. The chapter on emerging China would have benefited from such a discussion with a succinct mention of key issues between the two countries to complete the picture of an emergent China. The bilateral relationship has been identified by both U.S. and China as important in terms of national security as well as trade.

Taking on the current debate about the possibility of disintegration of China, Kurian opines that in China, the forces of integration and decentralisation are at work simultaneously. Economic decentralisation is the order of the day with nationalism providing the necessary binding factor in a post- Communist society. More importantly, Kurian observes that in the absence of a viable political alternative to the Chinese Communist Party and with a weak and fragmented civil society, the threats to integration are not urgent. However, China does face a number of serious domestic challenges which it must resolve in its endeavour to achieve comprehensive national strength. Demographic explosion, food, energy and water security, banking reforms, income disparities, regional imbalances, ethnic unrest in Xinjiang are a few of the issues dealt with in the book. According to Kurian the future of China will come to be shaped by the manner in which these contradictions are resolved.

Kurian's argument for a comprehensive approach to security is a response to China's emergence as the regional economic and military power. Since India and China are both emerging Asian powers it is but natural that they will compete in more areas and not just military power. In fact, many analysts in India regard the competition for investment capital and export markets as the more fractious area of interaction between India and China. On the political front, the issue of providing leadership to a Third World bloc at international fora is another topic of debate in the context of Sino-Indian relations.

Analysing Sino-Indian relations within the domestic linkages of Chinese foreign policy, Kurian makes substantive policy prescriptions to improve Sino-Indian relations. To facilitate the process of normalisation currently on, a wide network of linkages need to be developed to intensify contact at all levels. On the economic front, product diversification is suggested to expand mutual trade. In addition, Business-to-Business (B2B) relations and direct air and sea routes need to be expanded. Kurian advocates sub-regional economic cooperation as a preferred way to develop greater trade and commerce between China and India. She identifies North Eastern India and South Western China as regions with great potential in this regard. Including Myanmar in sub- regional cooperation, reviving the Southern Silk Route is also suggested. Greater economic engagement has to be supported by political commitment on both sides which can be initiated by a process of Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs).

In an appraisal of China's policy towards India, Kurian says that China follows a strategic policy of containment and engagement. However, India has not exploited its strategic opportunities in the region. She makes a strong case for expanding its relationship with Myanmar and greater participation in ASEAN as well, which she calls a stepping stone to Association for Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) membership.

The book has dealt comprehensively with the emergence of China as a military and economic actor in international politics. All arguments are substantiated with extensive empirical evidence. However, a few suggestions may be made regarding the second part of the book. Since the book seeks to make policy recommendations to improve Sino-Indian relations, a discussion of specific issues between the two countries would have provided sharpened focus. In its present form, Sino-Indian relations are subsumed under the general discussion on the regional situation. For example, the issue of Tibet has not been touched upon in the study and it is an issue that is relevant to both domestic and foreign policy analysis of China. A more issue-oriented approach would have made the book more useful to policymakers. The study does, however, enhance the field of Chinese Studies in India in that it successfully tackles the need for a pragmatic direction to India's China policy.

Emerging China and India's Policy Options, Nimmi Kurian, Lancer

Publishers, New Delhi, 2001, p. 227, Rs. 495.

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