Date:20/04/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/04/20/stories/2003042002520900.htm

National

Fernandes leaves for China

By C. Raja Mohan

NEW DELHI April 19. A red carpet welcome awaits the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, in Beijing as he leaves late tonight on a week-long visit to China.

It is not often that Indian Defence Ministers travel to Beijing. This is only the second time ever that one such will be in China. The first was by Sharad Pawar in 1992.

The visit is being described here as "significant" both in terms of the delicate nature of Sino-Indian relations and the special persona of Mr. Fernandes. Defence contacts slowly expanded in the mid-1990s but were broken after the strong Chinese reaction to the Indian nuclear tests in May 1998 and the rationale proffered for them by New Delhi.

After a brief chill, India and China have once again, and warily, sought to put the bilateral relations back on track and renew defence exchanges at various levels. Mr. Fernandes' visit is part of a deliberate effort of the Indian Government to "develop and diversify" Sino-Indian relations. The expectation is that it will deepen "trust and understanding" between the two sides.

Beyond the steady process of normalisation between New Delhi and Beijing, the very personality of Mr. Fernandes, with his strong views on China and Tibet, brings an additional dimension to the visit. "George Fernandes has often been castigated and portrayed as a `China-baiter' — but erroneously". These remarks were from none other than Mr. Fernandes himself!

Addressing an international conference on China earlier this year in the capital, Mr. Fernandes was clearing misperceptions about him in Beijing and beyond. "Many of my observations about China have been reflective of the democratic process that we have in India," he said. "I would urge our Chinese friends to note this trait of the Indian animal... If I have drawn attention to the anxieties generated due to some actions or words of China, it is a reflection of the perceptions of this polity," the Defence Minister added.

If Mr. Fernandes was putting his own position on China in perspective, Beijing too stepped out and consciously sought an engagement with the Indian Minister. It may be recalled Mr. Fernandes' remarks on China in the run-up to the nuclear tests in May 1998 were widely publicised and criticised in Beijing.

Both sides now recognise that there is no alternative to engagement and that it must include talks at the political level on the sensitive subjects of defence and regional security.

Mr. Fernandes will be the first Indian leader to hold broadbased talks with the new Chinese leadership that has taken charge recently. His visit takes place amid the preparations for the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee's long-awaited visit to China later this year.

But first and foremost, the Fernandes visit is being described here as one more step in the "patient, confident and forward-looking engagement" with China. India believes there are "no shortcuts" in the upgradation of ties with China and that the process must move forward "one step at a time".

Beijing will certainly note that Mr. Fernandes has not allowed the worldwide concerns about the SARS epidemic in China to come in the way of his planned visit.