Letter to BS: India unlikely to change stance on China's B&R Initiative

We cannot assume that the summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan, which apparently ended on a positive note, “solidified” or “reset” bilateral relations. We cannot expect relations to improve overnight. Modi did not raise the Doklam episode as one would have expected, maybe for good reason. Perhaps he didn’t want to strike a dissonant note and felt a voluntary offer of friendship was the right option, as India had nothing to gain from “fight” or “flight”. Practically speaking, it is wiser to be less belligerent when the enemy is supposedly mightier.

Be that as it may, the two premiers’ attribution of the Doklam stand-off to the armies beggars belief. With the construction of watchtowers and helipads, there is now no chance of restoration of the status quo ante. It is to be hoped that the “strategic guidance” of the two leaders to their respective armies will cool “operational tensions” along the LoC. The boundary dispute is a thorny issue and how best it can be resolved by diplomatic means should engage New Delhi and Beijing. 

India is unlikely to change its stance on China’s Belt and Road Initiative due to the fact that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor passes through Pakistan-administered Kashmir. For all the bonhomie on display, Xi Jinping could not be persuaded to drop his objection to India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The importance of good neighbourly relations between the two Asian giants for ushering in the “Asian Century” cannot be overemphasised. The leadership should relegate geopolitical rifts and give precedence to geo-economic opportunities for more than one-third of humanity to unlock their potential.

G David Milton, Maruthancode

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