NYTimes.com Article: Indian Premier's Talks in Beijing Signal Better Rel

This article from NYTimes.com 
has been sent to you by tganesh@stlawu.edu.


Indo-Chinese rapprochement?  The abiding fact is that both China and India have 
close trading and investment ties with the US.  India has clearly declared its 
support for the ongoing US campaign, opportunistically no doubt in light of its 
history of conflicts with Pakistan.  The attempt to bridge troubled waters with 
Beijing may however be suggestive of the force of other East Asian currents.

tganesh@stlawu.edu

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Indian Premier's Talks in Beijing Signal Better Relations

June 24, 2003
By JOSEPH KAHN 




 

BEIJING, June 23 - India and China signed agreements here
today that could warm the often chilly relations between
the two most populous countries, and India's prime minister
proclaimed that a long era of mutual suspicion was ending. 
"We should focus on the simple truth: that there is no
objective reason for discord between us and neither of us
is a threat to the other," Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee said. He was on the second day of a weeklong visit
to China, the first by an Indian leader in a decade. 
Mr. Vajpayee and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China signed
a joint statement that they described as a road map to
improving relations between the countries. Among the steps
were efforts to promote cultural and scientific exchange,
increase trade and ease visa rules. China promised to
invest $500 million in India. 
But it was not clear if the two sides had made much
progress in mapping their mountainous border, a serious
impediment to close relations since the two fought a savage
territorial war in 1962. 
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Kong Quan, referred
to the still sensitive border dispute when he said the two
countries were trying to "aggressively resolve historical
problems." 
"The basic thinking is according to what the leaders of the
two countries agreed upon in the past, and that is
negotiating on equal footing, mutual understanding and
giving in," he said. 

He did not provide details of whether the visit by Mr.
Vajpayee would produce more than a commitment to talk
further about the border issue. 
Since India broke free of British rule and China came under
Communist control more than 50 years ago, their relations
have been strained by distrust and strategic rivalry. 
China resented India's decision to give shelter to the
Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, after the 1959
uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule. Tensions increased
as both sides sought to stake their claims to territory,
resulting in the 1962 military conflict along three fronts.

It took nearly a quarter of a century to resume normal
relations. 

Rajiv Gandhi and Li Peng, the Indian and Chinese prime
ministers, reached the first major diplomatic agreement in
1988 and began a series of 15 high-level meetings to
promote a stronger relationship, including this visit by
Mr. Vajpayee. 
Economic ties have begun to expand. Bilateral trade grew to
$5 billion in 2002, from $338 million a decade ago, though
neither country is a major trading partner of the other. 
India and China have both expressed concern about the
United States' use of military power around the world, and
both were publicly opposed to the war in Iraq. That has led
to predictions that the two Asian powers could put aside
their differences and cooperate more closely, possibly in
tandem with Russia, to limit American influence. 
But individually, both China and India have been developing
closer ties with the United States as well. It is not clear
that India's weariness about American power is sufficient
to overcome its suspicious about China's intentions,
especially during a period when China's fast growing
economic and financial power have left India well behind. 
Strategic relations are not close. 

Beijing has favored
ties with Pakistan, India's archrival, since the 1962 war.
India accused Beijing of helping Pakistan develop nuclear
weapons. It used Beijing's support for Pakistan as a
justification for becoming a nuclear power itself. 
China denies it helped Pakistan build a nuclear bomb. But
in 1998, India identified China, rather than Pakistan, as
its main long-term security problem. 
During his visit to Beijing, Mr. Vajpayee made clear
India's concern about China's relationship with Pakistan
when he accused Pakistan of failing to crack down on
militants fighting Indian rule in disputed Kashmir. 
Mr. Vajpayee, who has opened a new bid to seal a peace
agreement with Pakistan, told Prime Minister Wen that he
was disappointed by what he described as Pakistan's refusal
to end its involvement in Kashmir, which has seen 13 years
of strife. 
Mr. Vajpayee "mentioned to him our concerns regarding
Pakistan and the need for Pakistan to bring cross-border
terrorism to an end as quickly as possible," the Indian
foreign minister, Yashwant Sinha, said after Mr. Vajpayee
met Mr. Wen. 
Still, the two countries emphasized their areas of
agreement and their similar positions on global issues. 
"With identical or similar views on many significant
international issues, the two countries' need for
coordination and cooperation is increasing," Mr. Wen said. 



http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/24/international/asia/24CHIN.html?ex=1057492743&ei=1&en=1aa19529b97039d0


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