Hu-Singh's new tune

New warmth in a blow hot-blow cold relationship

After the “new assertiveness” of 2010 that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh complained about, there seems to be a “new accommodativeness” in 2011 between China and India. The first sign of a cooling down of temperatures came during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to New Delhi in December 2010. At Sanya, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, China’s President Hu Jintao, the more conservative and hard-headed leader, exuded uncharacteristic warmth and seems to echo the sentiments of the more liberal and reform-minded Premier Wen. That Prime Minister Singh and President Hu have agreed to not just hold a Strategic Economic Dialogue and promote people-to-people contacts, but also resume defence and military exchanges and put in place a working mechanism for consultation and coordination on border affairs, augurs well for the bilateral relationship.

At a time when things at home have not been going well for him, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should derive great satisfaction from the fact that his interaction with both the prime minister of Pakistan, at Mohali, and the president of China, at Sanya, has borne concrete fruit in terms of further advancement of the bilateral dialogue between India and her two difficult neighbours. Ending the stapled visa controversy and resuming military-to-military contacts were major steps forward in rebuilding trust between the two. Hopefully, the economic dialogue will address the issue of the ballooning bilateral trade deficit in China’s favour. China must do more to open its economy to imports from India and be more transparent about its tax, pricing and subsidy policies. A more balanced trade relationship is vital to further growth of trade to the new target of $100 billion by 2015.

The leaders of both China and India have shown exemplary wisdom and statesmanship in being able to iron out differences and seek better relations. Dr Singh has repeatedly demonstrated his ability to be both warm and generous, when possible, and tough and business-like, when necessary, in his dealings with both neighbours. The resolve he showed in not yielding to Chinese pressure on the Arunachal Pradesh and Nobel peace prize ceremony issues had balanced his accommodative stance on the Olympic torch and at the Copenhagen climate summit. In this wise management of the India-China relationship, Prime Minister Singh has been well served by two distinguished Indian diplomats, National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and India’s Ambassador to Beijing Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

China and India have demonstrated repeatedly, despite their differences and mutual suspicion, that they have the wisdom and sagacity to manage their relationship and each other’s economic rise. No Indian should have any illusion that China is currently miles ahead of India as an economic power. Equally, China should have no illusions about India’s ability to catch up. But, as Dr Singh has said so often, “The world is large enough to accommodate the growth aspirations of China and India.” As they rise economically, both Asian neighbours must remain sensitive to each other’s political and security concerns. It is reassuring, not just for the people of both countries but for the whole of Asia and the world, to see the two rising powers manage their relationship, their differences and their interests, in a mature manner despite the many differences that divide them.