All entries for Friday 15 April 2005

On a Smoother Plane

The Telegraph, 15.04.2005

China’s, and increasingly India’s, attitude towards the boundary issue would be to shelve it in favour of trade. The agreement over Sikkim shows that there has already been a change in attitude. However, one should remember that the problems over Arunachal and northern Kashmir or the Tibet-Xinjiang highway, which cuts through Indian territory near Aksai Chin, are far from over.

China was looking for certain definite objectives from this visit — India’s support for the recent anti-secession law against Taiwan; sidelining the border disputes in Kashmir and Aksai Chin but trying to change the Indian position over Arunachal, which would greatly boost its manufacturing exports; preventing India from going over to the American camp and joining any future Asian Nato; attracting considerable investment from Indian MNCs. India, in turn, was primarily hoping to get some sort of a positive vibe from Beijing about its inclusion in the security council, apart from solving some of the border disputes. Both the nations have managed to get one or more of their objectives fulfilled. What is most encouraging is that both have agreed to give a massive boost to bilateral trade which will open up new horizons.

: 15 Apr 2005 12:14 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem