asianaffairs

Trying to calm frayed nerves on either side, the two leaders agreed that bilateral issues between India and China should be properly handled through talks and not allowed to become impediments in the growth of relations.

By Prakash Nanda

STAYING THE COURSE: Manmohan Singh (left) and Wen Jiabao meet in Thailand October 24 and reaffirm the need to keep their borders peaceful

The meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the latest Asean summit in Thailand (October 24) has generated more news in India than the main event itself. This is because the meeting took place in the background of three recent developments that are particularly noteworthy. These need to be mentioned before any attempt to analyse the meeting is made.

First, the Chinese have increased their military activities on their side of the Sino-Indian border, more appropriately called the Line of Actual Control in the absence of a mutual agreement on the vexed boundary issue. Worse, there have been frequent incursions by the Chinese side into the Indian-controlled territory in all the sectors, particularly in Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. Chinese cross-border forays nearly doubled from 140 in 2006 to 270 in 2008 and have kept that level in 2009. But then, there are still two more months to go in 2009.

Secondly, the Chinese media and government have gone nearly berserk in their criticisms of the visit of Manmohan Singh to Arunachal Pradesh in early October, repeating their spurious claim that a part of the state

belonged to China and hence is disputed. This is despite the fact that as high as 74 per cent of people in that state voted in the October assembly elections and reaffirmed their identities as proud Indians. The Chinese have been all the more provocative in their denunciation of the scheduled visit of His Holiness Dalai Lama to the Twang monastery in Arunachal. In fact, the Chinese have clearly gone back on an agreement on 'political parameters and guiding principles for settlement of the boundary dispute' that was signed when Wen Jiabao was in Delhi in April 2005. That agreement said that 'populated areas' should not be a part of the exchange of territory to be made for a compromise solution on the border dispute.

Thirdly, in what could be considered highly provocative, Indians from Jammu and Kashmir visiting China are being issued visa by the Chinese Embassy in Delhi in a separate sheet attached to their Indian passports. China is also stepping up its activities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir through arrangements with Pakistan, which had already ceded a substantial portion of the territory to China for building the Karakorum Highway. Equally provocative have been the Chinese plans to divert the course of Brahmaputra in Tibet, where the river originates, and causing great anxieties in all the seven northeastern states of India.

All this is besides China engaging in activities in the so-called 'string of pearls' countries surrounding India (Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan) that have serious implications for India. In fact, close on the Indo-Nepal open border, China is taking up a series of so-called developmental projects in Nepal to India's great discomfiture. And yet, one finds in India powerful voices sympathising and justifying the Chinese behaviour, given the unresolved territorial disputes between the two countries. These sympathisers include communist leaders, powerful media barons and retired Indian diplomats. These pro-China elements in India may not be exactly fifth columnists, but one thing is clear. All of them literally hate the United States. They are sure that China is the only country that can challenge the United States and end the so-called unipolar world or American hegemony. They, in the process, underplay the fact that in the name of a multipolar world, China is striving for a unipolar Asia, where, true to its theory of Middle Kingdom, China will not allow another pole, whether it is India or Japan, to make the world truly multipolar.

It is against this background that Singh and Wen met twice on October 24, once in the morning to hold formal bilateral talks and then informally in the evening during the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand. And interestingly, if the media briefings by the government of India soon after the formal meet, and then the next day by Singh himself are any indication, substantial issues that have been news of late figured more during the informal dinner meeting rather than during the formal official talks in the morning.

Going by the first briefing on the formal talks, Prime Minister Singh 'reviewed all aspects of our bilateral relations with Premier Wen. PM reiterated our readiness to cooperate with China on global issues like climate change, world trade and the global financial crisis.' The prime minister 'described our economic and trade relations as a vital pillar of our partnership. He underscored the importance for both sides to build better understanding and trust at the political level so that our relations remain robust and strong. He stressed that neither side should let our differences act as impediment to the growth of functional cooperation between the two countries.'

As regards Premier Wen's side of the story, the briefing made the following points: Wen said that he agreed with his Indian counterpart's view on our bilateral relations. He recalled that it was during his visit in 2005 that the two countries had jointly established the Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity. He referred to the 10 pronged strategy agreed between President Hu Jintao and PM and the Shared Vision document during PM's visit to China last year. Wen said that it is important to implement these agreements and to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation on bilateral as well as regional and international issues.

The Chinese premier pointed out that for the Asian Century to become a reality, it is important that India and Chine should live in harmony and friendship and enjoy prosperity. He said China is ready to maintain high-level exchanges. Both sides should seize the opportunities of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations to heighten our bilateral relationship.

Wen Jiabao also recalled Manmohan Singh's remark about both sides having enough space to develop and cooperate and added that there are sufficient areas in the world for India and China to enhance such cooperation. He concurred with Singh that issues that may arise in the course of our bilateral relations should be properly handled through discussions and they should not become impediment in the development of our friendly relations.
It is thus clear that the developments that have been news in recent months were underplayed during the formal talks and matters on which there are agreements between the two countries — economic cooperation, international issues such as trade and climate talks — were highlighted. It was only in the informal dinner hosted by the Thai premier for all the heads of governments participating in the Asean summit that Singh raised the issues of Dalai Lama and the fate of Brahmaputra.

'I explained to Premier Wen that the Dalai Lama is our honoured guest; he is a religious leader; we do not allow the Tibetan refugees to indulge in political activities; and that as proof of that last year we took resolute action at the time of Olympics when there were reports that some Tibetan refugees might disrupt the process. That is the position that I explained to Premier Wen,' said Prime Minister Singh. On the question of the course of Brahmaputra, Singh replied, 'I did raise this issue with Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday. I conveyed to him that cooperation in the area of trans-border rivers is of mutual benefit. Premier Wen said that keeping in mind the overall friendly relations and the humanitarian aspects, the Chinese side has been providing hydrological data during the flood season. He said that relevant discussion on trans-border river issues could be held through the expert level mechanism that we have constituted.'

Significantly, Singh admitted that he did not raise the issues of Kashmir and Arunachal. He said: 'There was a general discussion of all bilateral issues. I did not specifically raise this issue because I thought the position is quite clear as far as we are concerned. Whether it is Arunachal Pradesh or Jammu and Kashmir, they are integral parts of our country. I did not raise this and it was not raised on their side.'

In his interactions with the press Singh revealed that he and Premier Wen have agreed that 'whatever outstanding issues there may be between us — and there is the complex boundary question which cannot be wished away — there are established government channels to exchange views on all these issues, and one does not therefore have to go to the media to accentuate or exaggerate the amount of differences that prevail. We both agreed that the boundary question is a complex question; that pending a resolution of the boundary question we both have an obligation to maintain peace and tranquillity along the border.'

It is obvious that the Manmohan Singh government has a major challenge in dealing with China. So far it has tried its best not to allow things to go beyond control. It has appealed to the Indian media to show restraint in their coverage pertaining to China, despite the fact that the state-controlled Chinese media has gone berserk and spared no opportunity to portray India and its capacity negatively. And from its side, the government is giving as little information as possible. This trend was clearly manifested before and after the prime ministers of India and China met on the sidelines of the Asean summit.

Prakash Nanda is a senior journalist and author of ‘Looking East: Evolution of India's Look-East Policy.’

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