The Hindu : Building Sino-Indian trust

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Thursday, May 01, 2003

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Building Sino-Indian trust

THE QUIET, NON-FLAMBOYANT manner in which India and China have been consolidating their bilateral relations on a broad front has marked the week-long visit of the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, to that country. No concrete results were expected from what essentially was one more step in upgrading the relations and placing them in a forward-looking mode. In terms of symbolisms and gestures, there were many, beginning perhaps with Mr. Fernandes' determination to go ahead with his scheduled visits to the two main cities of Beijing and Shanghai despite the threat posed by the outbreak of the SARS virus in China. The first visit by a Defence Minister in a decade, it was the first undertaken by an Indian leader after the recent changes at the communist party and government levels in China. The visit was significant primarily because it announced that the two countries were renewing their defence exchanges at various levels at a sensitive time of evolving global alignments that have the potential to deeply impact on regional ties. Second, Mr. Fernandes' discussions were meant to set the stage for a much-awaited reciprocal visit to China later this year by the Prime Minister.

In fact, the visit and the leader undertaking it were also themselves the message. Mr. Fernandes held wide-ranging talks with the top leadership, including the former President, Jiang Zemin, who retains the powerful post of chairman of the Central Military Commission. The apparent warmth he received during his meetings must indicate that the two Asian giants have got over the chill that hit the relations following India's nuclear explosions in the summer of 1998 and the rationale that Government leaders then proffered. The irony would not be lost in either country that it was Mr. Fernandes who during those tense times described China as India's potential threat number one, with the Prime Minister following up this campaign with a letter to Washington in which he echoed his Defence Minister and spoke of the perceived strategic threat posed by China as a reason for New Delhi's decision to explode the nuclear devices. Mr. Fernandes' remarks then drew strong criticism from Beijing. That the misunderstandings and bitterness of those times have been put behind by both sides was evident during Mr. Fernandes' visit. His hour-long meeting with Mr. Jiang climaxed a series of discussions with the new leadership, including the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister.

The bilateral relationship has in the past four years emerged out of the low of 1998, with greater exchanges of official visits and people-to-people contacts and fast expansion of bilateral trade. If the Pakistan factor continues to cast a shadow, there is also the emerging strategic situation in the region in the wake of the events in Afghanistan and elsewhere, which demands greater interaction between the two countries. "China is willing to work with India for regional peace and stability," Cao Gangchuan, Defence Minister, told Mr. Fernandes, adding that Beijing would work for "a long-term stable and friendly cooperative relationship based on mutual trust". The two countries confronted the same challenges in national security which called for closer exchanges, Mr. Fernandes responded. Terrorism and fundamentalist militancy, for example, are certainly common threats facing both countries which can be met through sharing of experience. Despite the occasional discordant voice, the maturity that has attended the way the contentious boundary question has been handled over the decades and the resulting stability along the long border underline the efficacy of the step-by-step approach and the value of continued consultation and cooperation. Mr. Fernandes' week-long visit hopefully has created greater trust between the two countries.

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