India and China Relations

THE on-going BRICS summit in Sanya in China has provided a fresh opportunity to New Delhi and Beijing to give a new direction to their bilateral relations. It is, therefore, good that India and China have decided to establish a working mechanism to sort out their border disputes which have been coming in the way of cementing their ties. There are clear indications that both sides are enthusiastic to narrow down their differences on any issue concerning the region or the world so that they can together lead the coming Asian century. It is not without significance that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Hu Jintao preferred to downplay the irritants between the two countries during their meeting on Wednesday. They have changed the political climate involving India and China, and this can definitely help them to find a way to settle their disputes.
India-China relations had suffered a setback when Beijing started the unjustifiable practice of issuing stapled visa to anyone from Jammu and Kashmir or denying visa to people from Arunachal Pradesh trying to visit China. India was stunned when China refused to issue a visa to Lt-Gen B. S. Jaswal because he commanded the country’s troops in Jammu and Kashmir. India reacted strongly to this and decided to discontinue with the practice of military exchanges between the two countries. However, now military exchanges may be resumed soon, as National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon told journalists in Sanya.
India and China have massive scope to strengthen their economic relations. They can benefit a lot from each other’s achievements in different areas. At present the balance of bilateral trade is in favour of China. India has to work hard to reduce it. India may gain considerably if China allows greater access to India in areas like information technology (IT), pharmaceuticals and agro-products, as Dr Manmohan Singh pointed out during his meeting with President Hu. It is not difficult for the two countries to attain the bilateral trade target of $100 billion by 2015 if there is enough understanding of each other’s requirements.