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The Rediff Special

Experts believe India is letting go the chance to neutralise China

And there again the facts are against India. But to be fair, continuous political instability rather than actual intentions created all the problems. After Rajiv Gandhi, the only political heavyweight to visit China was P V Narasimha Rao. And that was way back in 1993. After that, all other high-level political delegations from India fell victim to one domestic political development or the other while the rest of the world, including Pakistan, punctiliously kept their appointments with Beijing. In India's case, Chinese punctiliousness has sadly not been reciprocated with the same earnestness. But no one right now is willing to listen.

Take a look at the following: the then prime minister I K Gujral could not make it as his tenure was jeopardised. Even when he could, he did not visit Beijing as the chairman of the Joint Working Group. Even Sitaram Kesri, who was scheduled to visit China and was given appointments by a host of top Communist Party leaders -- considered a rare honour for a visiting political party chief -- cancelled his visit at the last moment due to developments in the Congress party. Yet China sent a delegation to last August's AICC convention in Calcutta.

Ironically, the BJP, the leading party of the coalition government that is being blamed for the current fracas, managed to send a delegation to Beijing in the recent past.

What have all these botched-up efforts cost India? To put it mildly -- a lot. China, with its ambitions to emerge as the economic superpower is trotting ahead at a fast clip towards its goal. With an average annual growth rate of nine per cent and foreign direct investment flowing in unabated, it is the fastest-growing and the largest economy in the world.

What this country at this juncture would like to avoid is an unremunerative face-off. It has, therefore, already settled its fracas over border issues with Russia and Myanmar. Yet, in the case of India, no major headway has been made on the border issue in the last ten years.

Even in trade and commerce, India has failed to capitalise on China's growth. The Sino-Indian bilateral trade stands at a paltry $ 1.83 billion. Read it along with the fact that the last joint group on economic relations and trade was held way back in June 1994 and the picture is complete.

And this is where India stands accused. Experts believe it is squarely letting go the chance to neutralise China and gain an advantage over Pakistan in political terms. And also losing economic opportunities. The Chinese protocol office has its diary full well into the next year -- with all the political bigwigs in the global arena visiting Beijing.

In such a packed diary, India was given its share. And by failing to manage circumstances India is allowing crumbs to come its way even while it was offered the loaf. Scholars and diplomats in Beijing say China has entered a phase of reform wherein a belligerent stance would be self-destructive.

Suman Chattopadhyay/Beijing

Kind courtesy: Sunday magazine

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