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| Narendra Modi-Xi Jinping 'informal summit' equally important for both leaders given US' unpredictability | | | Agencies
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province, on 27 and 28 April to meet Chinese president Xi Jinping. This 'informal summit' between the two leaders assumes greater significance in the backdrop of recent tensions between India and China. The visit is also exceptional in the sense that Modi is scheduled to go to China again on 9 and 10 June this year to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Qingdao. It is usually uncommon for Indian leaders to visit China twice in such close succession.
This will be Modi’s fourth visit to China since he became India’s prime minister and a second bilateral visit. His first bilateral visit to China took place in 2015, followed by a visit to Hangzhou for the G-20 Summit in 2016 and the BRICS Summit in Xiamen in 2017. However, increasing interaction is yet to translate into better cooperation.
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, who is also the state councillor and the special representative for the India-China boundary talks, has called India and China "natural partners", who have no choice but to pursue a lasting friendship and common development agenda. He said, "We will make sure that the informal summit will be a complete success and a milestone in India-China relations. We see socialism with Chinese characteristics entering a new era and India acts as a crucial stage in its development and revitalisation." India’s foreign minister Sushma Swaraj also said, "We believe that our commonalities outweigh our differences and that we must build on our convergences while seeking mutually acceptable resolutions of our differences."
Swaraj is in Beijing on a four-day visit to participate in the foreign ministers' meeting of the SCO. The Swaraj-Wang meeting was held in the immediate backdrop of another important official interaction between India's national security advisor Ajit Doval and the top functionary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Yang Jiechi in Shanghai. So far, 20 rounds of special representative-level talks have been held to work out mechanisms to keep peace along the 3,488-kilometre-long Line of Actual Control (LAC).
For India-China bilateral relations, 2017 was a particularly bad year as the usual confidence-building measures were entirely missing.
On the contrary, China attempted to test India's resolve through a series of intensely aggressive acts including the postponement of regular military exchanges, a refusal to share hydrological data on the Brahmaputra and unilateral construction activity at the Doka La border tri-junction between India, China and Bhutan. Of course, the most challenging was the Doka La military standoff that could only be resolved by the end of August, just before Modi's visit to Xiamen in China for the BRICS Summit. For obvious reasons, the Chinese leadership did not want the issue to vitiate the atmosphere of the BRICS Summit.
There was a realisation in New Delhi too that disagreements must not be allowed to erupt into open conflict. In the build-up to the upcoming informal summit, the two countries held several meetings across various platforms. In recent months, both have publicly expressed their desire to reduce tensions and improve relations. The process of India’s rapprochement with China gathered momentum in February when the Modi government unprecedentedly decided to downgrade its involvement in events to mark the 60th anniversary in exile of the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.
Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale’s subsequent meeting with Wang in Beijing was in continuation of India's efforts to mend fences with China. In March, Wang extended the olive branch by asserting that the Chinese dragon and the Indian elephant should not fight each other, but dance with each other. Both sides also held the fifth Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) where the possibility was explored to align the ‘Make in India Initiative’ and ‘Made in China 2025’ across different sectors of economy. Beijing now wants to resume the annual military exchanges between India and China, which have been a routine affair involving a joint military exercise called ‘Hand-in-Hand’. During Swaraj’s recent China visit, Beijing has also confirmed that it will share data on the Sutlej and Brahmaputra rivers.
The informal summit is as important for Modi as it is for Xi. After the removal of the two-term limit for the Chinese president, Xi is the most powerful Chinese leader who is sure to remain in power for a long time. With a larger global profile in view, it is not in China’s interest to get bogged down by unnecessary border controversies at a time of seemingly unmanageable global uncertainties. One of the reasons why Xi seems to show some flexibility with India is due to the challenges engendered by an insular USA led by an unpredictable Donald Trump. Averting a full-fledged trade with the US is Xi’s top priority now. Thus, China’s careful diplomatic outreach to India is not without context. Reconciliation is the new communist mantra for Xi. |
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