Xi Jinping predicts a new spring in India-China ties

BEIJING: Barely days before the Spring Festivities herald the Year of the Sheep in China’s lunar calendar, signifying innovation, ingenuity and creativity, President Xi Jinping has predicted a new spring and bounce in the India-China relations in 2015 as he braces to welcome India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this year.
The Chinese leader’s desire to upscale India-China relations was evident from the red carpet Beijing rolled out for India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during her January 31-February 2 visit. Welcoming Sushma Swaraj on her maiden trip to China, Xi Jinping voiced his confidence in the future of the India-China relations, which have tended to be prickly and paranoid due to an unresolved boundary dispute and the baggage of mistrust stemming from the 1962 war.
“The positive side of China-India relations has been growing, the momentum of our cooperation has been strengthening,” Xi told Swaraj at the beginning of their meeting in the majestic Great Hall of the People in Beijing. “I have full confidence in the future of China-India relations and I believe that real progress will be achieved in growing this bilateral relationship on this new year.”
Fondly recalling his visit to Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s commercial hub, where he was serenaded by Mr Modi on the Sabarmati riverfront, Xi said: “I still cherish the fresh memories in my mind about the gracious hospitality extended to me by the government and people and particularly I cherish the fond memories of my trip to Prime Minister Modi’s hometown in Gujarat state.”
On her part, Sushma Swaraj, too, struck an upbeat note on the future trajectory of India-China relations and conveyed the greetings of Mr Modi for the upcoming Chinese New Year February 19. “Prime Minister Modi has extended his very best greetings for the Chinese Lunar Year of Sheep, which I have been told is associated with creativity and innovation… Your visit to India was also associated with creativity and innovation based on which the two countries explored new ways forward.
“Your September visit has special importance for people of India, particularly for me because our first meeting took place during that trip,” she said.

Can Elephant and Dragon Tango?

Sushma Swaraj’s wide-ranging interaction with the top Chinese leadership has set the stage for what she has called an “outcome-driven visit” by Mr Modi to China in April/May.
The Modi government’s outreach to Beijing underlines a new smart diplomacy at work. Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Beijing came barely days after the high-visibility visit by US President Barack Obama to India as the guest of honour at the Republic Day celebrations, the first time an American president was invited for India’s national day celebrations.

Beijing has reacted testily, with state-controlled publications decrying a “superficial rapprochement” between India and the US. The Chinese understand the value of symbolism and optics, and Beijing, it seems, will not leave any stone unturned in making Mr Modi’s Beijing journey an affair to remember. Expect Mr Modi to tweet in Mandarin to please his Chinese hosts, before beginning his ‘Charm China’ visit. There are no boundaries in Mr Modi’s foreign policy when it comes to seeking as many effective partners as possible to fructify India’s development agenda. The Dragon and the Elephant can tango, if declarations of love are matched by commensurate action. Only time will tell you, but I told you so.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network, www.indiawrites.org, an online magazine-journal focused on international affairs, the India Story and China. He is currently in Beijing to participate in the India-China Media Forum, aimed at enhancing mutual understanding between Asia’s two key emerging powers.)

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Manish Chand

Manish Chand is Founder-CEO and Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) and India and World, a pioneering magazine focused on international affairs. He is CEO/Director of TGII Media Private Limited, an India-based media, publishing, research and consultancy company.