Managing and Engaging Rising China: India’s Evolving Posture
India’s relations with China are uneasy in the best of times, but over the past few years the spectrum of differences between the world’s two largest countries has steadily widened, with the relationship becoming more complex as a result. The Chinese ambassador in New Delhi acknowledged this state of affairs during an interview just before Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited India in December 2010 for damage control, characterizing relations as being in a “fragile” state that needed care. Little visible progress, however, has been made in resolving a series of issues which have become politically unpredictable and made India’s diplomatic relations with China tenuous. Thus, Wen’s statement during the visit that “we are partners not competitors,” was said more in the spirit of hope than describing the current reality. There has indeed been some cooperation in economic ties and in areas of global significance such as climate change. But the list of issues pending resolution which bedevil the relationship has been growing. The constructive partnership envisaged in 2005, when the two countries announced the India-China Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity, remains unfulfilled and has proven difficult to attain.
Over the past two decades of engaging China, the general tenor of India’s diplomacy has been to avoid confrontation over security issues, sustain diplomatic talks, and adjust where possible in the hope that it will bring about a more accommodating Chinese approach sensitive to India’s concerns. India is worried by Chinese territorial claims on vastly-populated regions of India, its alliance-building and active nuclear, missile, and military collaboration with Pakistan, and the absence of any agreement between China and the large Tibetan community in exile in India since 1959. There is no active constituency in India for a conflict with China. Yet, the opinion within the political class is significantly less positive about China and the prospects for resolution of some of the crucial issues than it was in 2005. There is now a growing consensus within the political class that the earlier policy of appeasement and concessions is not working, and it is necessary to insist on reciprocity in dealing with China on core issues.
Download the full article, available in Adobe Acrobat [.pdf] format.
How do I order the printed version of TWQ?
No comments:
Post a Comment