By Hu Shisheng
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has arrived for his first
visit to China after a wait of more than a year. Some people may
remember it was mentioned as early as last spring that Singh would
visit China soon. No one thought it would take so long to
eventuate.
The reason for this could be "too many expectations". The two
governments expected a great deal from Singh's China trip when he
agreed to come, hoping to make some breakthroughs on a series of
bilateral issues of significance.
For example, the Chinese side hoped to sign a bilateral free
trade pact or a regional trade arrangement. The Indian side,
meanwhile, hoped the two countries would achieve some breakthrough
on a border issue, especially that the Chinese side would accept a
solution described as "maintaining the status quo with minor
adjustments".
Like it or not, there is always a gap between wish and reality.
As it is, neither side is fully prepared for a breakthrough the
other is hoping for. Such a gap between wish and reality is
probably the reason why Singh's Beijing visit has repeatedly been
delayed.
However, we must not view this gap or delay as a negative,
because it has actually spurred the two sides to explore and
advance in other areas of their bilateral relationship. Last year
saw instances of significant progress in China-India ties,
particularly in security and between the two militaries.
The armed forces of the two countries conducted two rounds of
defense and security talks in November, making the dialogue the
most important platform for confidence building between the two
militaries. Last month, the two nations' armies conducted their
first joint military exercise, turning a "staring match" into a
"handshake", as both sides put aside their 1962 border war. The two
sides also thrashed out their concerns and worries about security
during their third strategic dialogue, greatly advancing their
strategic mutual confidence.
Even on such tough issues as border demarcation and bilateral
trade, the two nations have managed to make some encouraging
progress in the past year. At the 11th meeting of special
representatives held in September, the two sides agreed to form a
joint working group that would build a framework for resolving the
border issue, thus putting efforts on track toward a real
solution.
Meanwhile, bilateral trade has been progressing as well. Total
trade value for the first 11 months of 2007 was $34.2 billion, an
increase of 54 percent year on year. The two countries are now
almost sure of realizing their target of $40 billion a year in
bilateral trade by 2010. As a matter of fact, the only thing
missing from Sino-Indian relations last year were reciprocal visits
by the leaders of the two nations.
One can always tell the political relationship between two
countries from the frequency of high-level visits. Both China and
India maintain annual bilateral summit meetings with Russia, which
means their relations with Russia are very close; Chinese and
Japanese leaders played host to each other several times last year,
evidence that their bilateral ties are warming.
Likewise, the obvious deepening of China-India relations since
the beginning of the new century has been the natural result of the
quickening pace at which high-level reciprocal visits between the
two governments have taken place. Two Chinese premiers and their
Indian counterparts have paid each other official visits during
their terms in office in recent years. President Kocheril Raman
Narayanan of India visited China in 2000 and Chinese President Hu
Jintao visited India in 2006. Such visits between top leaders of
the two countries are unprecedented. It shows bilateral ties have
indeed been put on a positive track.
However, the current pace of high-level reciprocal visits
between the two sides still needs to be stepped up as the two build
a strategic partnership as fast-rising powers. The two giant
neighbors have yet to commit to holding annual bilateral summit
meetings. The last Indian president, Abdul Kalam, never visited
China during his five-year term in office. As for Prime Minister
Singh, this is his fourth year in office but his first trip to
China.
Reciprocal visits between top leaders are particularly important
for China and India to improve their bilateral ties, because
exchanges between the two peoples have not been smooth despite the
fact they are neighbors. In 2006, a total of 629,947 Indian
nationals visited China, but only 46,805 Chinese visited India; and
just 67,600 Chinese people visited India last year, the Year of
Travel and Friendship which saw 35 million overseas trips
undertaken by Chinese citizens.
Without reciprocal visits there will be no face-to-face
interaction, no personal experiences or direct understanding. It
only gives rise to erroneous assumptions and misunderstanding. In
fact, the infrequent contacts between ordinary citizens of China
and India are very much the result of their lack of knowledge about
each other.
India Today, a magazine, carried a lengthy article last October
alleging Chinese troops had "invaded" India 130 times (in matter of
months) and their numbers piled up to more than 10,000, which
translates as an infantry division of the People's Liberation Army.
Outrageous as it is, hardly anyone at that time came forward to
refute such an inconceivable display of wayward "journalism". The
Indian military also found it necessary to stay silent. The reason
behind such "revelations" is that the two countries are obviously
on "different wave lengths" over the border issue. There is no
historical record showing a physical borderline that both countries
recognize. How can you invade a foreign land that does not
exist?
The Indian press frequently reports that Chinese enterprises are
entering sensitive areas, resulting in "security" problems, while
the Chinese press has complained about India's so-called
"barricade" policy. That kind of coverage to a certain degree has
chilled the enthusiasm of Chinese businesses entering the Indian
market. The truth however is Chinese companies winning a sizable
number of contracts in India because they are widely preferred for
their quality and inexpensive work.
How should we close the gaps between the two nations? Think
regular high-level reciprocal visits - once a year should be an
effective way to begin - and make each a bridge for the two sides
to narrow their "cognitive gaps" and each an informative campaign
to popularize the gist of our bilateral relations. As the two
peoples get to know each other better, their interactions will
increase, bilateral ties will develop more smoothly and some of the
thorny issues will be resolved easily.
The two governments should also look at regular high-level
reciprocal visits from a global perspective. The rise of China and
India as two superpowers in terms of population is of significance.
It does not simply represent the rise of the East as opposed to the
West. What is more important is that China and India are two great
nations on this planet with enough potential to change the look of
the world some day. The two countries should take their political
relationship beyond geopolitics, beyond bilateral ties, and
particularly beyond the confines of security concerns and
historical grudges.
The author is a researcher with China Institute of Contemporary
International Relations
(China Daily January 14, 2008)
