From hometown diplomacy to home truths: China blocks India’s UN move against Pakistan
Call it home truths, if you will. After much-hyped hometown diplomacy by the leaders of India and China, the first time at Sabarmati Asharam in Gandhinagar and then at Xian, the city of famed Terracotta Warriors, home truths are staring New Delhi as it engages Beijing. Barely weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, conjuring up a seductive narrative of major power relations and all that sweet talk of an Asian Century, Beijing is now drawing its own red lines. And this red line is definitely a red rag to New Delhi.
Belying Beijing’s talk of jointly countering terrorism, the Chinese representative has blocked India’s move in the UN demanding action against Pakistan for releasing the Mumbai mayhem mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi from jail on the ground that India has not provided “sufficient information”. The legal subterfuge deployed by China to shield Pakistan’s action (or lack of action against the architect of 26/11) reinforces the red line drawn by Beijing in its relations with New Delhi. Put simply, it means that China is ready to pump in $20 billion into India, build industrial parks and smart infrastructure, but if it means going against its all-weather acolyte Pakistan