Like politics, in global diplomacy too, no one is a permanent friend nor a permanent enemy, barring a few exceptions. Perhaps thinking this, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again completed the ritual of shaking hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping. That too in the city of Kazan in the friendly country of Russia where the summit of BRICS countries was held. This made Russia, our natural friend and permanent well-wisher, the most happy, because it is the main architect of creating this situation. In view of the dire situation the world is going through today, it is important for India and China to come closer because this will eliminate the possibility of war between the two countries. There is no doubt that India-China friendship has global significance. It is a guarantee of peace, stability and development.
However, despite all the historical relations, Panchsheel principles and Modi-Jinping friendship, such a situation should not arise in the near future like the India-China war of 1962 or the violent clash in Galwan Valley in Ladakh, and even if it does happen, India will be on its side. There is no harm in taking India-China relations forward with this strategy. Yes, a guarantee will have to be taken from him that not only on the India-China border, but also in India’s neighboring countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Maldives besides Iran, it will not go ahead of Indian interests. Will happen, otherwise lasting friendship is difficult!
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Today, the way the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Palestine war are being fueled by the Western countries, India is also taking steps to control the strained relations between India and Canada and the tricky relations between India-America and India-Britain. Good relations with China can prove to be very important. Apart from this, India and China can also help each other in controlling the uncontrollable Islamic countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh etc. In view of the way in which Christianity is becoming dominant in some places and Islam in other places, India, a Hindu-minded country, and China, a Buddhist-minded country, can do a lot of good by working together. Perhaps this thought made the leadership of both the countries bow down a bit and the matter of friendship could be taken forward.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said that India-China relations are important not only for our people but also for global peace, stability and progress. The consensus reached on the issues arising on the border is welcome. Maintaining peace and stability should remain our priority. Mutual trust, shared respect and mutual sensitivity should remain the basis of relations. I am confident that we will talk with an open mind.
At the same time, Chinese President Xi Jinping says that India and China should work together to maintain stable relations, which can help in achieving the development goals of both the countries. For this, we should strengthen communication and togetherness to resolve differences. Both are ancient civilizations and developing countries. Therefore, the best way to pursue mutual interests is to maintain the right direction of relations.
In such a situation, what will be the right direction of relations is an aspect worth considering. There is no doubt that today India’s direction on many issues is different and China’s direction is different, hence mutual consideration can be had only with an open mind. In this sequence, taking care of sovereignty and territorial integrity should be of paramount importance. Then priority should be given to the trade balance, which is currently one-sided in China’s favor. Furthermore, the idea of a strategy of encircling each other should be abandoned. Because western countries will benefit from this and India and China will suffer a lot!
At the same time, India will have to adopt a Hinduist approach in the development of relations with China, because it is this approach that can guarantee prosperity from the development of mutual civilization and culture to economic behavior. India is the birthplace and place of work of Lord Buddha, hence through tourism development we can tie the South-East Asian countries into a mutual thread. At the same time, there is immense tourism potential hidden in the development of the Himalayas located on the India-China border, which is also connected to Nepal and Bhutan, which needs to be promoted among the sub-Himalayan countries. This will attract the whole world towards India. The huge income generated from this will also not create any problem in monitoring and maintaining the India-China border. Everything will become transparent.
One more thing, India’s relations with Arab countries have always been good. But ever since Muslim invaders and terrorists started trampling India from a religious perspective, we have to be cautious in our relations with it. Especially the challenge of Indian foreign policy has increased with the emergence of Pakistan and Bangladesh. First America established good relations with Arab countries. But when the contradictions on the issue of Israel increased, seeing Iran’s assertiveness, China and Russia established their roots deep in the Arab countries. In such a situation, India will have to carefully develop relations with Arab countries according to its national interests, because today India has good relations with both the American group and the Russian group. At the same time, there is good friendship with Saudi Arabia and Iran, because they are not supporters of Pakistan. Chinese friendship can be useful in keeping this also balanced.
The special thing is that amidst the resolving relations between India and China over the LAC dispute, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that investment restrictions on China will remain in force. Because India cannot take investment from any country blindly. He also stressed the need to exercise caution on foreign direct investment (FDI). He clearly said that security of national interest is most important. We cannot blindly take money from any country for investment in the country and cannot accept FDI blindly. By forgetting or being unaware of where it is coming from. He rightly said that some restrictions should remain in place due to the sensitive geopolitical scenario. We want business. We want investment. But we need some security measures, because India is located in a neighborhood that is very sensitive.
On the other hand, on the announcement of agreement with China regarding patrolling on LAC in eastern Ladakh, Congress has also said that the government should take the country into confidence in this matter. We hope that this setback to foreign policy in decades is being resolved in a respectable manner under India’s provisions. We hope that before the withdrawal of troops, the same situation will be restored as it was in March 2020. The party sarcastically said that this tragic saga is entirely the result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s naivety and naivety regarding China. Because China had hosted Modi grandly thrice as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. While as Prime Minister he held 18 meetings including five official visits to China. At the same time, India’s position weakened the most from the global perspective when the Prime Minister gave a ‘clean chit’ to China and said, ‘Neither has anyone entered our border, nor has anyone entered. Therefore, now all steps will have to be taken thoughtfully.
– Kamlesh Pandey
Senior journalist and political analyst