The Hindu : The Sino-Indian potential

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 23, 2003

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The Sino-Indian potential

THE PRIME MINISTER, Atal Behari Vajpayee's six-day visit to China, officially beginning today, sets the stage for the two giant neighbours to give a major new thrust to their bilateral relations. It is an opportunity to turn a historic potential into a reality by giving the relations greater depth through closer economic cooperation and political understanding. The visit is taking place at a time of unprecedented flux in international relations, when, through their combined leadership, the two can impart a needed balance to global affairs, rudely shaken by the American doctrine of pre-emption and the war on Iraq that followed its unveiling. During his brief interaction with China's new President, Hu Jintao, in St. Petersburg, Russia, late last month, Mr. Vajpayee gave expression to a vision of India and China making this an Asian century of peace and progress. China's Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, also underscored the need for "more democracy" in international relations in his interview to The Hindu. The visit of P. V. Narasimha Rao more than a decade ago laid the foundation for peace and tranquillity on the long and disputed borders through an exemplary mechanism of consultations. Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Hu can now transform this to bring more concrete, tangible benefits for the two peoples.

Given the political will on either side, there is no reason why the mutual wariness and suspicion that has characterised the relations in the past cannot be replaced with trust and confidence in each other. The visit of the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, to China in late April demonstrated the readiness of both sides to put the past, in particular the bitter recent past, behind and look ahead to building a mature relationship that reflects the potential. Imbibing one major lesson of the end of the Cold War, the two should move decisively to give economics and trade a greater weight in bilateral relations on the premise that this provides a better context for resolving outstanding political disputes. That the Government realises the value of this is attested by the accompanying large delegation of businessmen whose early fears of being swamped by Chinese products have given way to a search for openings in the Chinese market. Indian industry's exploration of the Chinese market and Indian trade and investment in China, begun in a piecemeal fashion, can receive a major boost with political blessings. In the context of the extraordinary speed at which bilateral trade has grown in the past decade — from $ 350 million in 1993 to $ 5 billion last year — clearly the opportunity for growth in overall trade and investments is huge.

There can be an immediate beneficial impact on the political relations if the two countries decide to let trade and commerce flow freely — and let them resume across the traditional silk route. Since preparations began for Mr. Vajpayee's long awaited visit to China, there has been speculation that Beijing may agree to formally recognise the 1975 merger of Sikkim with India — and help revive trade via Sikkim to the Tibetan region of China. This can additionally spur trade in the east, between the booming Chinese province of Yunnan and India's eastern region. The agenda in Beijing will doubtless cover the vexed boundary question, the difficulties on which both recognise, and the strategic cooperation between China and Pakistan, which Beijing steadfastly denies has worked to undermine India's interests. On the global stage, there is a concurrence of views on many international issues like the war on Iraq and the dangerous instability arising from unilateralism and unipolarity. If the Vajpayee visit results in imparting greater depth to bilateral relations through more intensive economic cooperation and reduced political friction, the continent may have taken one more step toward the dream of an Asian century.

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