Round The World
New Delhi, 31 August 2010
Sino-Indian Ties
ALL IS NOT WELL
By Monish Tourangbam
Research Scholar, School of
International Studies (JNU)
Irritants
in Sino-Indian relations are here again to restrict the new traction that the
two countries had managed to acquire in recent times. In addition to the
intractable border dispute over which the two Asian giants fought a war and
many other differences that persist over a host of vital issues, the Chinese
has of late shown increasing signs of meddling in the Jammu and Kashmir issue. India deems the Kashmir question as sensitive as
the Tibet
issue is to the Chinese leadership.
Despite
all the bonhomie seen in Sino-Indian ties of late, evident in the number of
high-level visits this year (Foreign Minister SM Krishna, President Pratibha
Patil and National Security Advisor Shiv Shanker Menon) uneasy exchanges have
taken place between the two over Beijing’s reported investment in
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) which New Delhi considers a disputed territory
and the Chinese Embassy issuing stapled visas to J &K residents. Concerns
also abound in India’s
policy-making circles about the prospect of a future Sino-Pakistan nuclear
deal.
The
latest diplomatic spat between New Delhi and Beijing concerns China’s
policy stand towards the Kashmir issue. It is
widely known that India does
not tolerate any external interference on the Kashmir
subject. As it considers the State an integral part of the country and at the
most regards all forms of contention strictly bilateral between the aggrieved
parties: India and Pakistan.
The
latest thorn in Sino-Indian ties came in the form of the Chinese Government
refusing to provide visa to Northern Army Commander Lt Gen B S Jaswal (supposed
to visit China on a defence exchange programme) on the grounds that his
jurisdiction included J & K State. Thus, indirectly reiterating Beijing’s ambivalent attitude towards the Kashmir issue
and its well expected tilt toward Pakistan,
which has fought three wars with India
over the question of Kashmir. The denial of
visa on the flimsy ground that he was in command of J&K has certainly not
gone down well with New Delhi.
Apart
from some ambivalence from the Left parties, the Government and the Opposition have
vehemently rejected such an unwanted gesture from the Chinese. New
Delhi has reportedly issued a demarche on the matter and made known
India’s
concerns in a meeting between External Affairs Ministry officials and the Chinese
Ambassador to India Zhang Yang. The Government
has made plain that Beijing
was solely responsible for this new unwanted development which would have
negative repercussions for larger India-China ties.
According
to Government sources, “This incident is certainly tied to China’s
position on J&K. They are regarding J&K as an issue which is yet to be
sorted out between India and
Pakistan
and are questioning the status of the State. This issue concerns our
sovereignty and is as sensitive to us as Tibet is to them.”
Apart
from the Arunachal issue, Beijing seems to be
increasingly intent on using the Kashmir question as a bargaining chip in
dealing with New Delhi.
In light of this situation, the Government should constantly extract a concrete
Chinese standpoint that it respects the territorial integrity of India and would
not unduly infringe on the internal affairs of a neighbour.
Even
though both Governments’ have tried to play down the effect of the visa row,
the impact of the antagonistic stance have already been felt, with clouds of
uncertainty hanging over future defence exchanges or military exercises between
the two neighbours. However, sources assert, meetings of army personnel posted
on the borders will go on since they were “part of the structure evolved to
maintain peace and tranquility”. Although both countries attach importance to
military ties and would in all circumstances want to keep it on track, the
bitterness of the current spat can hardly be ignored.
As
an immediate outcome, New Delhi
cancelled the scheduled visit of two Chinese military Captains and a senior
Colonel, amounting to “halting” defence exchanges for the time being at least.
While the Captains were to attend a course at an Indian Army centre in
Pachmarhi, the Colonel, who has been a guest lecturer at the National Defence
College in New Delhi earlier, was to grace a reunion.
Efforts
are ongoing on both sides to ensure this row is not a long-term affair and to circumvent
this irritant from inflicting a larger damage to other components of the
comprehensive relationship. But at the same it should be made plain that India is not
ready to tolerate or compromise on sensitive issues like J&K for the sake
of furthering Sino-Indian ties. There is no dearth of mistrust and suspicion between
the two neighbours. Therefore, utmost caution should be observed not to derail
ties over some tit-for-tat rhetoric and unwarranted policy projections.
Amidst
all the diplomatic offensives, there is some good news in the culture and
education sphere. Notwithstanding, recent Chinese moves to negatively influence
development of Sino-Indian military ties, the HRD Minister Kapil Sibal is all
set to visit China this month to attend the World Economic Forum meet. During his
visit, Sibal is expected to discuss bilateral student exchange programmes
besides participating in deliberations with other leaders on the issue of
sustainable growth.
Besides,
another news worth celebrating for Indian students increasingly looking towards
China
as an educational hub is a long-awaited pact between the two countries on the
verge of being signed between Sibal and his Chinese counterpart. Whereby India and China will treat each other's
degrees as equivalent under the agreement. The mutual recognition pact with China will,
however, not cover medicine and pharmacy programmes.
True,
Sino-Indian ties, normally identified with mistrust and suspicion, has of late,
managed to acquire some effective area of maneouver. Yet, the list of
differences and antagonism are still long. And the latest visa row is just
another irritant in which both countries refuse to watch from the same
angle. Being the world’s fastest growing
economies with increasing political and economic clout on the international
stage, the two neighbours with a not so rosy past would increasingly find
themselves jostling for space.
But
there is a parallel narrative that shows instances of cooperation and mutualism
in spite of all the lingering differences of opinion and antagonistic interest.
The furtherance of the educational and cultural exchanges will help the two
Asian people understand each other more and drive away some of the prejudices
that have defined the relationship. In the first half of this year, there have
been three high-level visits to China
that have fostered the winds of change. However, more efforts are needed to attain
maturity in the relationship, wherein an occasional rhetorical move would have
no chance of derailing the entire machinery of engagement. ----- INFA
(Copyright, India
News and Feature Alliance)
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