#dnaEdit: Deepening ties

It was his first visit as Prime Minister but he has been there many times before as Gujarat Chief Minister. It should not, therefore, come as a surprise that premier Modi was keen to visit China during his first year in office. If former PM Manmohan Singh tried to keep his admiration for the United States under wraps, though everyone knew about it, Modi is quite explicit in his admiration for China’s economic success. He revels in what he thinks to be the spiritual link between the two countries through the travels of Buddhist pilgrims like Xuanzang to India. The Chinese communist leaders may not be averse to the Buddhist link if it helps China to trade more with India. Modi is keen that India and China should come closer. It might be a shock to the PM himself and to the self-proclaimed anti-Nehru leaders in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that Modi’s enthusiasm for China echoes Nehru’s own admiration for that country. 

But his unconcealed sense of warmth towards China did not prevent the PM from referring to the prickly issues like stapled visas or the border dispute that bedevil the bilateral relations. Modi was quite candid in stating that China should change its way of viewing India and that it should adopt a long-term perspective. 

The Chinese leaders are flattered by Modi’s admiration of their country, and made their pleasure evident in public. That is why Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Modi in his hometown of Xian, a personal gesture whose importance is not to be underplayed. Even Chinese Prime Minister Li Kequiang could not but warm up to Modi. Li’s cryptic statement that the differences between the two countries are manageable acknowledges that the two countries have to engage with each other. This became explicit with China giving its diplomatic nod to India’s role in a reformed United Nations, including the UN Security Council. Beijing also showed willingness to recognise India’s desire to be part of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), and its openness to India’s membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). A decade ago, China thought that India had no reason at all to be part of the SCO. These are clear signs that China is more open towards India, and this is not confined to the arena of economic cooperation.  

It would, of course, be naïve to ignore the real hurdles in the way of closer India-China relations. India is aware of China’s strategic relations with Pakistan, which includes large-scale military aid. For the Chinese, India’s strategic ties with Japan and with the United States could be a matter of concern because the Chinese leaders fear “encirclement” by unfriendly powers. It would be unrealistic for India to expect China to move away from Pakistan. Similarly, Chinese leaders are aware that India-US and India-Japan follow their own logic and they should not act as irritants in that process. 

While the imperatives of realpolitik will determine India-China relations, there is no doubt that Modi’s personal admiration for China’s impressive growth will continue to be an incentive for the economic programmes of the BJP government. Modi’s as well as BJP’s acknowledgment of Chinese successes in the field of development are sure to flummox analysts in India because of what they consider to be ideological incompatibility between the BJP and the Communist Part of China (CPC). What Modi and the BJP admire about China is its ruthless efficiency to reach goals and targets.