Prime Minister Narendra Modi's China visit has come at a time when his
government is completing his first year in power and global strategic
equations are fast rearranging. At a time when India's economy is
gaining strength and global economists are hailing Modi's one year in
power as the best India has had economically, Modi walks in China as the
most confident and powerful prime minister to have ever visited. And
with President Xi Jinping, considered to be a strong leader moulded in
Deng Xiaoping's school of thought, a courageous march of togetherness
seems more possible than ever.
The Nehru years with China were
rooted in a mirage and ended in clouds of animosity and suspicion.
Indira Gandhi never visited and Rajiv Gandhi did succeed in de-freezing
the ties, but could not put them on a strong wicket. Atal Bihari
Vajpayee had the statesmanship to show an out-of-box approach, formally
accepting the TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region) as China's integral part and
getting Sikkim recognised by the Chinese as Indian state, and
institutionalising the mechanism to resolve the border dispute through
the appointments of Special Representatives (SRs). Later we signed the
important joint document "A Shared Vision for the 21st Century" during
Manmohan Singh's 2008 China visit. Manmohan Singh's second China visit
in 2013 resulted in agreements on keeping border tranquil, exchange of
data on trans-border rivers, cooperation for Nalanda University besides
establishing sister-city partnerships between Delhi-Beijing,
Kolkata-Kunming and Bangalore-Chengdu.
Prime Minister Modi is set
to create a new era in India-China relations by focussing more on
building trust and inviting Chinese investments. Whatever we say about
the growing trade and bilateral exchanges, the fact remains the
suspicion level remains high for each other which reflects in the
complicated visa norms too. Modi is expected to break the ice and begin a
fresh, confident and bold new phase of "vishwas" - the trust that will
pave way for future cooperation in an unprecedented manner. Once the
trust begins to soar at the people's level, nothing is impossible, a
high Chinese official in Beijing last month told me.
Away from
the strict official positioning and stiff collars, Modi can make Chinese
people look at India from a refreshingly new angle. Military and
economy have always been two essential parts of diplomatic parleys, but
this time the Indian prime minister is a leader who has perfected the
art of charming.
Modi's debut on China's social media Weibo
initiative has not gone in vain. When a Hongkong-based Phoenix TV
correspondent asked me in an interview about the critical remarks
arriving on Modi's Weibo account, I said that's welcome as we are a
democracy and know how to use this opportunity to explain to critics the
correct position. She was surprised that we have no problem with
criticism. That's where India, with its democracy, has the power to
overcome hurdles.
On the economic front, Modi will have to do
hard talk on balancing the huge trade deficit, which has risen to a
whopping $37.8 billion. China's economy is almost four times the size of
India and their official military budget ($119 billion) is three times
larger than ours. The huge aid to Pakistan, the new economic corridor
linking Gwadar with Xinjiang and the PLA presence in Pakistan-occupied
Kashmir concerns our security.
But should it be allowed to impact
negatively on our bialtaral ties with a neighbour that is indisputably
more important than others? We may choose to remain enveloped in fears
or begin a power walk with confidence in our values and sinews. Modi has
chosen the latter path.
An India that's meticulously ensuring
growing presence in ASEAN, continuing strengthening economy with long
term allies like Japan and the US, building better ties with the Middle
East and Israel can happily build a bridge of cordiality and trust with a
neighbour with whom we have had civilisational ties dating back to more
than two millenniums.
The strategic issues remain high on the
radar of both the countries. But once a mechanism of cordiality is well
oiled and functioning, the conflict fears can be turned into
complementary positions too.
Modi's India is doing its best to
create an atmosphere of walking together in the neighbourhood and in
spite of all provocations, India has shown dexterity to keep cool while
standing firm on its position with strength. With Modi working to have
India move on the World Bank's 'Ease to Do Business' index from number
142 to number 50, and foreign institutional investment for the 12 month
period surpassing $47.2 billion, i.e. up 640 percent over the previous
12 month period, it is a different story this time. A billion people
talking to another billion people - to walk and dream together.
Let a march of confident togetherness begin.
(13.05.2015
- Tarun Vijay, BJP MP Rajya Sabha, is president of Parliament's India
China Friendship Group and author of two books published in Mandarin,
one being on the life and vision of PM Modi. The views expressed are
personal. He can be contacted at [email protected])
