The Hindu : Partners, not rivals

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

Partners, not rivals

By Hua Junduo

For those familiar with the long history of friendly relations between China and India, it is easy to name three peak periods in the interactions between the two great nations. The first can be traced two millenniums back when Buddhism bound China and India together in the earliest stage of the historic exchanges between the two ancient civilisations. The second features mutual sympathy and support in their respective struggles for national independence and liberation in modern times. The third is marked by the good-neighbourly relationship in the 1950s between the two independent Asian nations newly emerging in the international arena and by the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence they jointly initiated for the world after the Second World War.

The three peak periods have laid a lasting and solid foundation for the Sino-Indian relationship, a relationship which no remarks have better summarised than those made by Premier Wen Jiabao during his meeting with the visiting Indian Defence Minister, George Fernandes, in Beijing in April this year. The Chinese Premier said on that occasion, "During the past 2,200 years, about 99.9 per cent of the time we have devoted to friendly cooperation between our two countries." It is the inevitable tendency that such a great and traditional relationship shall last and flourish.

The long-awaited visit to China by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, is likely to take place as scheduled from June 22 to 26. It is 10 years since an Indian Prime Minister travelled to China last. During the past decade, sea changes have taken place in the world situation and the Sino-Indian relationship has been moving ahead steadily. Over that period of time, two major consensuses have been reached by both countries. The first one is that the two sides should in no way allow their historic baggage to stand in the way of the all-round development of relations between them. The other is that neither country would see the other as a threat. Based on the above-mentioned understanding, the Sino-Indian relations have made striking headway in the following fields:

* The two countries concluded two major agreements, one on maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas, the other on confidence-building measures in the military field. The past 10 years' experience proves that these two instruments served their purpose well. The clarification and confirmation of the Line of Actual Control is still going on, and the two sides have exchanged the maps of the middle sector of the LAC.

* The two countries have put in place an array of consultation mechanisms on boundary, security, counter-terrorism, foreign policy planning and other issues, which has helped enhance mutual understanding and trust between the two sides.

* Cooperation and exchanges have expanded between the parliaments, political parties, mass media, scientific and academic communities as well as NGOs of the two countries, and military-to-military contacts are also on the rise. The China Eastern Airline has started direct flight between the two capitals. China and India have officially made each other an overseas destination for their tourists. *Holding identical or similar views on many major international issues, the two countries have carried out satisfactory cooperation in the U.N., the WTO and other international organisations with a view to safeguarding the interests of developing nations.

* Since the assumption of my office in India, I have often been asked with the question: "What do you think is the main stumbling block to the development of Sino-Indian relations?" In my view, it is nothing other than the inadequacy in mutual understanding between our two peoples. Many of my countrymen know about India only from the disaster reports of the TV news and are ignorant of India's success stories in agriculture, industry, software and other frontier scientific and high-tech areas. Turning to the other side of the coin, we can find that the Indian public, like many of my countrymen, do not know much about what their neighbour is like nowadays. What is more, not few of them are sceptical about China, suspecting that China is either a threat or someone trying to contain India. Obviously this is a misconception, for they fail to see the fact that China and India share enormous interests in maintaining regional and global stability, safeguarding national independence and developing their economy. This commonality far outweighs the disputes between the two countries left over from history.

Given this judgment, China has repeatedly stated that it hopes to see a developed and prosperous India, an India that plays a greater and more active role in world affairs. That China deems in its own interest. The late leader of China Mr. Deng Xiaoping noted to the visiting Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1988, "It makes no sense to talk about the Asian Century unless both China and India become developed. The coming of the real Asia-Pacific Century or Asian Century can only be declared when China, India and other neighbouring nations become-developed". Likewise, Prime Minister Vajpayee made similar remarks when meeting with President Hu Jintao in St. Petersburg on May 31 this year. History will eventually prove that China and India are partners, not rivals.

The new generation of Chinese leadership has declared that China will persist in the policy of being friendly and good partner with neighbours, and that China would like to deal with surrounding countries on the basis of equality, live side by side with them in peace and harmony, and join hands with them through thick and thin to achieve common progress. China will enhance high-level visits and political dialogues with its neighbours for better understanding and a regional political environment characterised by harmony, trust and coordination. We will strive to foster a new security concept which features mutual trust, mutual benefit equality and cooperation in the region.

(The writer is China's Ambassador to India.)

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