China PM in India: Economic / “Atmospherics” Progress, Political Stalemate
Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.
China and India set ambitious new economic targets on Thursday by pledging to nearly double their trade in the next five years to $100 billion annually.
But the two Asian giants appeared to make little progress on tough geopolitical differences over Pakistan, terrorism and their disputed border.
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China, who is visiting India this week for the first time since 2005,
spoke warmly about Indo-Chinese relations and how the two nations could mutually prosper without encroaching upon each other.
China and India set ambitious new economic targets on Thursday by pledging to nearly double their trade in the next five years to $100 billion annually.
But the two Asian giants appeared to make little progress on tough geopolitical differences over Pakistan, terrorism and their disputed border.
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China, who is visiting India this week for the first time since 2005,
spoke warmly about Indo-Chinese relations and how the two nations could mutually prosper without encroaching upon each other.
“We are friends, not rivals,” Mr. Wen said during an afternoon speech at the Indian Council of World Affairs.
“We will always be friends and will never be rivals. This should be the firm conviction of every Chinese and every Indian.”
Mr. Wen’s agenda in New Delhi has been twofold:
expanding trade and trying to open India’s markets to Chinese companies,
while also offering reassurances that China does not represent a threat to India’s own rise.
It is a message that comes as growing Chinese assertiveness in the region has worried India and many other Asian nations.
And it comes as the United States and India pledged to create a deeper partnership after last month’s visit by President Obama.
Mr. Wen, who has cultivated an avuncular public image rare among Chinese leaders, has waged a charm campaign in India.
He visited an international school in New Delhi, where he encouraged the students to call him Grandpa Wen
and offered a lesson in Chinese calligraphy by writing the characters for China-India friendship.
During his speech on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Wen spoke of the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore,
whose poetry is widely taught in Chinese schools, describing him as a “household name” in China.
He also described his morning visit to the memorial of Mohandas K. Gandhi, the father of modern India and exemplar of Indian democracy,
as a deeply emotional moment, saying that Gandhi “has always lived in my heart.”
Despite such sentiments, Mr. Wen did not appear to offer any breakthroughs on the hardest issues.
The two countries agreed to open a hot line between the two prime ministers and schedule regular visits between top leaders.
Yet India had hoped that Mr. Wen might offer a clear endorsement of India’s ambitions for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, as Mr. Obama did last month.
Instead, Mr. Wen spoke in more vague language that fell short of an endorsement.
India also has been concerned about China’s support of Pakistan
and its reluctance to apply pressure on combating the terrorist groups operating on Pakistani soil.
India’s foreign secretary, Nirupama Rao, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Indian leaders presented their concerns that
Pakistan should do more to eradicate terrorist groups during high-level meetings on Thursday.
“We were able to express our concerns quite clearly,” Ms. Rao told reporters in an afternoon briefing.
“The Chinese premier was given a very clear understanding.”
Asked if Mr. Wen’s visit had essentially accomplished little except maintain the status quo,
Ms. Rao said the relationship was slowly moving forward.
“I would say this is a gradual process,” she said.
Mr. Wen arrived Wednesday with about 300 Chinese executives.
The two countries cut business deals worth about $16 billion and signed agreements on Thursday
that, among other things, would allow Chinese banks to open branches in India for the first time.
Trade between the two countries has risen sharply in recent years and could approach $60 billion in 2010.
“The rapid expansion of our economic cooperation has been one of the major achievements of the last five years,” Ms. Rao said.
“We are now creating an enabling environment to reach the next economic frontier.”
Yet it remains unclear if this optimism will be enough to ease other sharp differences.
India protested when Chinese officials began stapling a separate paper visa — rather than the usual stamp —
for anyone from the state of Jammu and Kashmir applying to travel to China.
To India, this was a deliberate challenge to Indian sovereignty over Kashmir,
the Himalayan region long the subject of a territorial dispute between India and China’s ally Pakistan.
Ms. Rao said that Mr. Wen raised the stapled visa issue without prompting
and recommended that the two sides establish an “in-depth” consultation to find a solution.
China’s friendship with Pakistan is a source of growing discontent in New Delhi.
Indian officials have criticized Chinese plans to build two nuclear reactors in Pakistan,
fearing that nuclear materials could fall into the hands of terrorists who want to attack India.
India also wants Beijing to join the United States and other nations in condemning the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
“This is a damage-limitation exercise,” said a retired Indian diplomat, Lalit Mansingh.
“Wen Jiabao is coming to reassure India that all is well, that we are good friends and economic partners.”
Mr. Wen’s 2005 visit was credited with improving relations
as he and Mr. Singh agreed on a broad framework to address the two countries’ longstanding border disputes.
Yet five years later, little progress has been made,
At the same time, water is another contentious issue, amid reports that
China is undertaking hydro projects in Tibet that could affect water flow on the Brahmaputra River in India,
according to this article in the New York Times.
