Indian goodwill has become a high-priority item for China as it comes under western pressure on the Tibet issue in the run-up to the Olympics.
Chinese envoy says, ‘If we join hands, we can both win and prosper. If we fight, we will fail’NEW DELHI: Indian goodwill has become a high-priority item for China as it comes under western pressure on the Tibet issue in the run-up to the Olympics.
The inscrutable mask is off. Suddenly, the Chinese in New Delhi, led by ambassador Zhan Yan, are on a public relations over-drive. The pinpricks on Arunachal Pradesh are a thing of the past. Now, they’re talking of a “win-win” relationship.
“If we (India and China) join hands, we can both win and prosper. If we fight, we will fail,” Zhan declared during an informal interaction with a select group of media persons on Wednesday.
If the superlatives seem to be at odds with recent signals from Beijing, Zhan didn’t think so. He shrugged off the midnight summons to India’s envoy to China, Nirupama Rao, as a minor issue.
“I don’t want a fresh wave of stories but I can responsibly say what has been reported on this matter is not correct. Maybe in future, the timing should be considered but I can assure you, we treated your ambassador very respectfully,’’ Zhan insisted.
“It doesn’t affect our relationship. Someday, I am sure your ambassador will tell what really happened,’’ he said.
Urging the Indian media not to be taken in by “western propaganda’’ on Tibet, Zhan made a power-point presentation on the importance of the India-China relationship. The importance is three-fold, he said. There is a bilateral benefit for mutual development. There is a global benefit for peace and prosperity. And there is a strategic benefit for Asia’s future and destiny.
Significantly, Zhan’s PR exercise was preceded by a phone call from China’s foreign minister Yang Jiechi to external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee. Yang spoke on similar lines. He too stressed the value China attaches to the relationship with India and said he looks forward to taking it forward.
What was interesting was Zhan’s take on the West’s coupling of India and China. “The international community believes the future belongs to us. They put us together as emerging economies,’’ he acknowledged.
Beijing is obviously making a big effort to buy peace with India to overcome the irritants that have crept into the relationship in recent months.
It needs New Delhi's support as a bulwark against western efforts to bring Tibet back into international spotlight and in its own slightly clumsy manner, it has tried to express its appreciation for India's steadfast adherence to its traditional position on this controversial subject. Now it's up to New Delhi to lever the new mood in Beijing to push for smoother interaction without pinpricks on subjects on which India is prickly, like the status of Arunachal Pradesh.
However, pressure or no pressure, it was clear that China is not willing to do a trade-off on the boundary dispute. Zhan was quick to point out that it takes time to arrive at an "ideal solution'' to "outstanding problems". He said the competent authority was handling these problems and there is progress. "When the time comes, a solution will be found,'' he added.
a_jerath@dnaindia.net 
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