DNA Edit: Building Bridges between India and China

The fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are meeting – in what many are calling an ‘informal summit’– is welcome news but questions remain as to how much New Delhi can expect from Beijing.

While so far Chinese officials have made all the right statements about rapprochement, there is little to suggest that Beijing is willing to consider India’s major concerns seriously. Despite ‘sweeteners’ such as the promise of the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar yatra through the Nathu La route for pilgrims and data sharing on rivers such as Brahmaputra and Sutlej which originate in China and flow into India, Beijing has made no statement to address India’s main concern – Islamic extremism.

It is surprising that while Beijing is facing its own concerns with ‘extremist’ Uyghur Muslims which it has accused of ‘terrorist’ activities it has remained unconcerned with New Delhi’s problems. For instance, Beijing, so far, has not forcefully condemned any act of terrorism conducted by terrorist groups based in Pakistan. At the UNSC in November last year, China used its veto power to prevent Maulana Masood Azhar from being declared a global terrorist.

More recently, despite its best efforts, Beijing was unable to shield its ‘all weather friend’ — Pakistan from the scrutiny of FATF (Financial Action Task Force). Despite its opposition, Pakistan has now been on the organisation’s ‘grey list’ which means that world scrutiny will be put on its ‘terror financing activities’ – a situation that neither Islamabad nor Beijing seem to want, given its opposition to the list. 

So far China has said and done nothing publicly to change this stance. Instead, increasing construction and wooing of India’s immediate neighbours and the entry of Chinese warships during the Maldives crisis, has suggested – even to those who want better relations with China – that the ‘String of Pearls’ has only become tighter and stronger.

The other concern is that with President Xi making no secret of his ambition to create a ‘Super China’ in the region; the usual India-US counter-balancing efforts may not prove as effective going forward. Prime Minister Modi will know this only too well and the government has made the right overtures. While we cannot be ‘true friends’ for now, both New Delhi and Beijing will be more than aware that future Doklam-like scenarios are a no-win for both sides and need to be stopped.

Second, economics rules and with the US-China tariff war heating up, New Delhi and Beijing may find that they need each other more than before. Already bilateral trade is at a high with figures from the Chinese ministry of commerce showing that trade between the two countries jumped to $84.4 billion in 2017, up 20.3 per cent from 2016.

The figures by the commerce ministry also noted both Chinese and Indian companies have deepened investment in each other’s countries. These meetings will not change China’s policies drastically regarding India’s concerns – nor should India expect them too – but they are a good beginning and a good way to thaw the mutual distrust and suspicion with which both countries have viewed each other for some time now.