Rivalry of the East

Understanding India-China relations.

India and China two magnificent countries of the east, one the dragon breathing fire and the other the lion of the south. Both these countries have a similar rise to power in history. Both have a dark past of colonialism and also it is in the 1940s that India got independent and it was also the time when Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was formed. The recent developments in this matter is of utmost importance for UPSC preparation especially with regard to GSM paper III - International Relations.

Before we confront the present scenario, it is important to be aware of its background. After the civil war in 1949, China became one of the world’s major powers. The CCP led by Mao had to solve a lot of issues in the home and international fronts, regarding the position of China in the world and other internal problems. After the death of Mao, Den Xiaoping took over the ranks, he had answers to all these problems. He embarked on a historic journey of ‘four modernizations’: agriculture, industry, science and technology and the military. He introduced, what was a major breakthrough in the future of China, ‘The Open Door Policy’ opening doors for the west to invest in China, mostly Americans and Europeans.

Four decades after this ambitious journey, China finds itself one of the major powers in the 21st century. It has been the major contributor to the global shift of power from ‘west to east’. With Xi Jinping assuming power in 2013, China started paying more attention to the neighbourhood and the Asia-Pacific region than the predecessors with definite objectives. There has been a legacy of unresolved border dispute between India and China of over 4000 km but had managed to keep peace intact until lately. Things changed in the month of June 2017, with rise in China’s confrontational position. Bhutan broke the news of experiencing presence of China’s People Liberation Army’s engineers in its Chinese border constructing a road in the Doklam Plateau (a disputed region between China and Bhutan). Bhutan does not have a foreign policy with China, New Delhi has a considerable influence over Bhutan. Thus India sent troops to evict them. India holds special relations with Bhutan according to the friendship treaty signed with them in 1949. Also Doklam holds a special geographic position which gives access to the chicken neck corridor to the northeast of India. China has questioned the participation of India in the issue.

This act by the Chinese can be termed as ‘cartographic aggression’. Diplomats see this as a measure to teach India a lesson for declining participation in Xi’s pet project Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which is supposed to increase connectivity of southeast Asia with Europe dedicated to bring benefit to the entire region. India refutes this initiative as part of the BRI the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through Pak occupied Kashmir (PoK), hence threatening India’s sovereignty.

The recent developments can be seen as efforts to woo small neighbouring countries by China, where they have been traditionally under India’s sphere of influence. The recent takeover of over 70% of the shares of the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka gives more evidence to this stance. India replied to this by acquiring same amount of shares of an airport in Sri Lanka.

During the BRICS NSA meet in July 27-28 NSA Ajit Doval met with his Chinese counterpart and also with Xi Jinping. Not much is known about what they discussed, but is sure to have included the standoff. China had earlier said, that it will withdraw troops only if India moved first. But through constant diplomatic deliberations and peace talks, after 73 days the standoff was defused. During the BRICS summit just after this in Xiamen nothing much was talked about this but India sent vehement messages on its Anti-Terror stand, which led to BRICS acknowledging Jaish-e-Mohammad and Laskar-e-Toiba as terror organizations, contrasting to the Chinese stand of vetoing against India’s proposal to declare Masood Azhar a UN designated terrorist. China had earlier also blocked India’s entry to the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG).

Adding to this, recently Donald Trump (President of USA), had acknowledged the role of India (along with Afghanistan) as a close friend in its foreign and global security policy. Also in a never before manner Trump threatened to withdraw the financial aid to Pakistan considering its hands in terrorism. Replying to which China had called Pakistan a close ally, clearly exposing their stance. There are also reports that a situation similar to that of the Doklam standoff taking place in Arunachal Pradesh, another Indo-China border disputed area, due to a similar situation of road construction.

Although India and China have locked horns many a times, most have been settled through peace talks and deliberations in the recent times, which shows that escalating the situation is undesirable for both parties. It would be interesting to see how India try to neutralise the Chinese influence in its neighbourhood, maintain peace by mobilizing support and exposing them.

“The ultimate challenge of a teacher lies not in the slaying of dragons, but rather in exposing them as beasts no longer to be feared”

------- Alan Burton

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