China-India rapprochement is essential for a bright future
President Xi Jinping of China and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India met at Wuhan, central China, on April 28-29. Long hours of one-on-one conversation between the two leaders was meant to improve strategic communication and lead to a clearer understanding of each other’s perspectives and priorities in a changing world.
No joint statement was issued. Any reluctance to have an agreed statement would have stemmed from India’s domestic political sensibilities. Areas of understanding were, however, noted by the Indian foreign secretary.
Both sides agreed to have a friction-free atmosphere on their disputed border; and to cooperate in joint development projects in Afghanistan. The key phrase used was to maintain “decisional autonomy,” signifying Indian proclivity not to become too overburdened by defense commitments to the US-led China containment efforts in what is now termed the “Indo-Pacific.”
Both China and India are contemplating development trajectories that will in the next few decades position them as the two largest economies. The key question is whether they could cooperate and thus give Asia-led global growth an unstoppable dimension, or whether they checkmate each other.
China has long been saying that the world is large enough to accommodate the aspirations of both countries. Indian strategic thought reads the trends otherwise. It feels China is winning significant influence in South Asia and encircling India by the so-called string of pearls.
Indian strategic thought has been guided by geopolitics. On the other hand, China’s focus has been solely on development, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a natural corollary of this approach with considerable beneficial consequences for the world. The intermingling of great power factors in the greater Asian region have complicated the picture of a steady and stable growth trajectory.
Nevertheless, the notable positive developments on the Korean peninsula and the increasing intensity of cooperative interaction between Japan, South Korea and China is indicative of the concerns and interests of the major players in the region not to allow the drift toward confrontation and underscores the immense prospects and potential of win-win cooperation.
The matchless idealism encapsulated in the BRI and CPEC’s pragmatic cooperative projects should shine the way forward for the Asian states to build durable prosperity and peace consistent with the aspirations of their peoples.
Salman Bashir
It is to be hoped that the US and China will also make requisite efforts to reach new and higher levels of mutual accommodation and cooperation, which clearly is in their mutual interest. In this sense, these are indeed defining times.
The China-India rapprochement process would need to be sustained to fit the patterns of play in the broader region. An essential and perhaps critical theme that runs through Eurasia is “connectivity.” India has opposed and not yet agreed to the BRI. This attitude is difficult to understand as it counters India’s own desire to play a greater role in the world. Opposing BRI means going against the tide of the times in Eurasia and is effectively an isolationist mentality. Fresh thinking on greater regional economic cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and notably under the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) framework, at present being resisted by India, is warranted.
Pakistan has welcomed the positive trends now in evidence in the greater Asian region and wants to promote win-win cooperation in the adjoining geographical zones of South Asia, Central Asia and the Gulf. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) provides a solid avenue to stabilize these regions.
CPEC is not only a “label” for a collection of projects but also a “concept” that essentially flows from the theme of voluntary partnership for win-win cooperation by equal-footed consultations among sovereign states. The matchless idealism encapsulated in the BRI and CPEC’s pragmatic cooperative projects should shine the way forward for the Asian states to build durable prosperity and peace consistent with the aspirations of their peoples.
For all these reasons the trajectory of China-India relations and other processes of mutual accommodation in Asia are critical to ensuring a bright future for the peoples of Eurasia and the world.
• Salman Bashir is a Pakistani diplomat who served as the foreign secretary of Pakistan and ambassador to China and India. Twitter: @SalmanB_Isb
