SHIVANGI KANAUJIA (ASSISTANT EDITOR)
Leading to the emergence of a popular catchphrase “Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai”, India-China took a historical step on 1st April 1950 marking the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two nations. With this India became the first non-socialist country to recognise the People’s Republic of China as the legitimate government of Mainland China. The year 2020 marks the 70th anniversary of bilateral relations between the two most populated countries of the world. However, celebratory plans for this important event by the governments of both the nations have suffered a major setback because of the Coronavirus outbreak. Nonetheless, the past seven decades of this relationship lay bare a whole tapestry of disputes and bilateral engagements that have dictated the direction of contemporary policies involving both the countries.
Since its inception, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, enshrined in the Panchsheel Agreement of 1954, serve as one of the most important relations built between India and China to carry forward the economic and security cooperation on various levels. These principles have formed the guiding principles for the negotiations on border disputes between both the countries concerning regions like Askai Chin, Arunanchal Pradesh etc. After eight years, the Agreement lapsed, relations were already souring, ultimately culminating to the Sino-Indian War in 1962. However, in the 1970s, the Five Principles emerged, yet again, as a saviour to Sino-Indian relations, and more generally as norms of relations between states upheld till date.
As the two countries are all set to begin a new chapter in diplomatic relations this year, the India-China border issue still remains one of the most protracted border disputes of the world. Though, not a single shot has been fired by either of the two sides since after the war, differing opinions on Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two countries, have led to confrontations where the two countries have accused each other of violating the LAC. Officials from both the countries since 1981 (when the first round of border talks was held) have met several times and deliberated upon various agreements pertaining this border juggernaut but the face-offs between the armies of the two sides like the three-week standoff at Daulat Beg Oldi in 2013 and the 73-day confrontation at Doklam in 2017 have indicated that the issue is no longer about technical differences but has now taken the shape of political indifference and global power play between the two governments. In the 22nd round of special representative talks on the Sino-Indian border that took place in New Delhi on 20 and 21 December 2019, special representatives of the two sides – Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi and India’s National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval reiterated their commitment in maintaining peace and tranquillity along the 3,488 kilometer long Line of Actual Control (LAC) and showed their commitment towards Confidence Building Measures (CBM) to achieve the objective.
The border dispute between both countries has affected bilateral relations of both the countries at various levels including economic cooperation, defense deals and diplomatic ties. These have also emerged as key factors in the Chinese treatment of India’s demand for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. As the famous notion about Central Asia being a ‘global chessboard’ goes, India and China continue to further their engagements not only at the bilateral level but also at a multilateral scale encompassing their neighbouring countries through strategic involvements. China’s Belt and Road Initiative, popularly known as BRI, and India’s Indian Development Assistance Scheme (IDEAS) as a counter to it, suggests the nature of strategic power play between both the countries revolving around the pursuit of political and geographical influence in the Asian subcontinent which has become one of the governing features of the foreign policy between the countries and beyond.
Another factor that holds the key to bilateral ties of the two nations is the complex interaction of India with the US that has been unambiguously witnessed post 2014 under the Modi-Trump duo. While on the other hand, New Delhi remains concerned about China’s big strategic and economic bet on Pakistan and about the fact that countries like Sri Lanka and the Maldives recalibrated their relationships with China owing to Indian region’s changing leadership temperament under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. However, after the difficult year of 2017, the Wuhan Summit of 2018 and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s informal visit to India in 2019 sought to convey that the competitive-cooperative dynamic in India-China relations had regained its equilibrium and that China-India relations should transcend the bilateral dimension and assume global and strategic significance.
At the level of soft diplomacy too, both the countries are actively trying to engage in people-to-people exchange in the fields of art, publishing, media, film and television, museum, sports, youth, tourism, locality, traditional medicine, yoga, education and think tanks. On similar lines, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ or ‘the world is one family’ resonates with the Chinese philosophical concept of “universal peace” and “universal love”.
The Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis
While the world is retreating into a situation of complete lockdown and is struggling to combat the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic which originated in the Wuhan City of China, India is currently busy in devising a strategic plan on how to deal with the shift in global dynamics vis-à-vis India-Sino bilateral ties which is likely to witness a negative impact as noted by experts. The Indian government has been very careful not to blame China for the coronavirus or its propagation because of China’s actions, just as many countries across the world are also ensuring. External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar tweeted saying that he had discussed with both State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in addressing the coronavirus and built collaborative efforts in this regard.
However, the doubtful sincerity that China is showing towards India by saying that it “stands ready to share its experience in epidemic prevention and control and diagnosis and treatment, and provide further support and assistance to the best of our capability”, is likely to create some weariness on India’s part in the context of faulty medical assistance provided by it to many countries across the world. This doubt is likely to further deepen the general public mistrust towards China and its engagements in the field of bilateral relations with India.
REFERENCES :
- Weidong, H.E Sun (2020). The Hindu [online]. Available at : https://www.thehindu.com/brandhub/70-years-of-diplomatic-relations-between-china-and-india-1950-2020/article31219737.ece
- Rajagopalan, Rajeswari Pillai (2020). The Diplomat [online]. Available at : https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/how-is-covid-19-reshaping-china-india-relations/
- Wani, Ayzaz (2020). Observer Research Foundation [online]. Available at : https://www.orfonline.org/research/india-and-china-in-central-asia-understanding-the-new-rivalry-in-the-heart-of-eurasia-61473/
The Views expressed in this article are personal to the author(s). They do not, in any way, express the views of Youth Forum or its members.
