Border tension melts amid Modi-Xi warmth

Border tension melts amid Modi-Xi warmth

FPJ BureauUpdated: Saturday, June 01, 2019, 08:27 AM IST
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New Delhi :  The warmth of the personal interaction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping over the last two days in Ahmedabad and the national capital dissolved the mounting tension on Line of Actual Control in Ladakh area, and the 1,000 PLA troops that had moved into the Indian side went back.

The contradiction of talks in the capital and the incursions at the border was hurting the quality of the India-China profile engagement.

President Xi had travelled to Ahmedabad on the occasion of Prime Minister Modi’s birthday, and this gesture was symbolic of the desire to move the usually frosty India-China relationship to a better and substantive engagement that reflected their shared view that the two countries are like ‘two bodies with one soul.’ An expression first used by the articulate Modi and then endorsed by President Xi.

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• New route for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through Nathula Pass in Tibet

• China to invest $20 billion in India in the next five years

• Two deals between Railway Ministries of the two neighbours for high-speed trains, heavy haul transportation training of Indian personnel and redevelopment of railway stations

• Establishment of sister-city relations between Mumbai and Shangai for people-to-people exchanges and similar state-level relations between Gujarat and Guangdong

• Setting up a 1250-acre industrial park near Pune, and more such parks in Gujarat and China”s participation in New Delhi World Book Fair in 2016

• A five-year trade and economic development plan for improved bilateral trade, audio-visual cooperation to co-produce films, polling creative, artistic, technical, financial and marketing resources

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However, there was a welcome dose of realism and candour from both sides as the boundary question was acknowledged by both sides. Emphasising that a climate of mutual trust and confidence with a respect for each other’s sensitivities and concerns along with peace and stability in relations and along the borders was essential for the two countries to realize their full potential, Modi suggested that there should be a resumption of the process for clarifying the Line of Actual Control ( LAC).

This found resonance in President Xi’s comments attributing the incursions to the fact that the boundary is not demarcated. ”Since the boundary is yet to be demarcated, sometimes there could be instances of transgressions, but both sides are fully capable of resolving the issues through border-related mechanisms so that such incidents have little impact on ties,” he said while describing the boundary question as a ‘left over from history.”

The pre-visit hype that China would try to outstrip the Japanese business commitment made to India during Prime Minister Modi’s recent visit has however been belied. The Japanese have committed 37 billion dollar investment in various projects, but the Chinese have been limited almost to half of it – 20 billion dollars. Modi has made a strong pitch for improved visa policy, enhanced access to Chinese markets for Indian products, and a correction in the trade balance that is loaded in favour of China.

The movement forward in the ties is marked by the signing of 16 bilateral agreements, and the opening up of a new route via Nathu La to Mansarovar for the Indian pilgrims. There have been agreements for industrial parks in Gujarat and Maharashtra and cooperation for upgrading the railways infrastructure.

Anil Sharma

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