India Features
Can India trust China? Old fears strike again
By Manish Chand Nov 17, 2006, 11:34 GMT
New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) As India gets ready to receive Chinese President Hu Jintao next week, an old debate has revived - can China be trusted? - and put the focus on an image problem that colours the perception of Beijing here.
Chinese ambassador Sun Yuxi's re-assertion of Beijing's old claim over Arunachal Pradesh, just days ahead of Hu's visit, has led some to question the motives that underpin Beijing's desire for expanded engagement with New Delhi.
At the heart of Beijing's image problem in India is the 1962 war when China came on top militarily after a spell of 'Hindi-Chini bhai bhai' euphoria.
'It does revive the memories of 1962. When the two countries are building a relationship, the Chinese envoy's remarks have generated anxieties afresh as to how far we can trust the Chinese,' Alka Acharya, a China expert at the Jawaharlal Nehru University here, told IANS.
'Trust deficit between India and China is a very palpable factor. We need to do something substantial to enhance the level of confidence between the two countries,' Acharya said.
Agrees Mohan Guruswamy, a seasoned China-watcher: '1962 was a traumatic experience. It was the end of our innocence. We have, however, learnt our lessons and moved on.'
The distrust of China in sections of the Indian establishment, in a more extreme form, was articulated by George Fernandes, the then defence minister in 1998, when he called China 'India's enemy number one' and the then government used the bogey of the China threat to rationalise New Delhi's nuclear tests that year.
Eight years hence, there is an overall improvement of atmospherics, with both New Delhi and Beijing keen to engage each other in resolving the border dispute in a realistic manner and building a strategic partnership in a new Asian order.
But the key issues that continue to cast shadow on India-China ties remain: China's links with Pakistan's nuclear and missile programme, the border row, Beijing's hesitation in backing India for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and its reservations about the India-US civil nuclear deal.
China's image problem is not confined to intellectual and public discourse alone; it has invaded the public perception of China as an 'aggressive, ambitious nation' which is prone to put its national interests above human rights and ethical scruples that constrain liberal democracies.
Indian businessmen often complain about the dumping of cheap low-cost Chinese goods, heavily subsidised by the state, which can threaten domestic industries. Chinese electronic toys, omnipresent in Indian stores and malls, illustrate the problem of a looming trust gap in a mundane way: they are cheap and attractive, but go dead soon.
Even as bilateral trade between India and China reaches $20 billion figure, there are renewed concerns in India about security aspects of Chinese investment in infrastructure-related areas.
But there is the positive side as well.
In fact, there is a sneaking admiration of China's emergence on the global stage as one of the world's fastest growing economies, its ruthless resolve to wield greater clout in world affairs and the attention it gets in international media.
'They have come up very fast in the last 20 years. They are posing a challenge to the US dominance of global politics,' says K. Subrahmanyam, an expert who heads the government's task force on global strategic developments.
'China is at least 15 years ahead of us in economic development. Everybody is busy engaging China and India. People are interested in rising economic powers,' said Guruswamy.
'There are some who speak about China's aggressive economic growth and soaring world power ambitions. Is it because we lack that aggressiveness and drive?' wonders Acharya.
© 2006 Indo-Asian News Service
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Older Talkback
page: 1
I don't know. Ask the Nepalese...
Hahahahahaha
Bollywood,call centres and IT does not a Superpower make.India first needs a revolution in its government to address its major problems regarding poor infrastructure,huge poverty,massive corruption,lack of proper enforcement of law and order.Only then can it start to tackle the threat posed by its neighbours.The tragedy of India is that there is no shortage of home grown educated young talent but unfortunately it has not been nourished and the sad consequence has been a huge brain drain to the West.India needs the bulwark of USA to prevent China from gaining the upper hand in the region.America will never allow China to dominate.At the end of the day the nation with the superior technology triumphs.China mass produces but has very little in the way of R&D.It is America which is the centre of research and developemnt which licenses its technology to cheap foreign hands for mass production.Ofcourse to have R&D you need money so the argument becomes circular.Once robotic technology advances to the point that any product can be mechanically mass produced then even the Chinese sweat shops will become extinct.India needs to be self sufficient in its technology but it needs to get its house in order first and quickly.
I agree with both Gus and Xenophon’s accurate summation, but would like also to point out that India’s problems also lie with the Indians themselves, in that they lack a strong sense of pride and self belief, the so called brain drain is nothing but the “escapism and laziness” that is inherent, the philosophy of hard work deters the Indians within India and yet if one observes the same Indians, in America, Britain and in other foreign lands, they work extreme long hours and help enrich those countries and their economies, even though they are treated as second class citizens, and with contempt. Indians seem to be ashamed of their own cultures and readily accept other ones, they openly criticise the Indian cultures often in agreement and from a western view point, shows that they have no knowledge of their own heritage beyond the colonials and the Mughals.
My only regret is that had America and Britain both helped India in its infancy, after independence, India today would have stood tall, what lies behind the American policy, which won’t help India but is propping up Pakistan, an Islamic Dictatorship, that has terrorism growing in the country, knowing too well the Chinese desire, it was recently demonstrated by Hu’s visit to both countries and the contrast between the trivial accords he signed in India, and three major agreements with Pakistan should be evidence enough, as to China’s true motives.
I would say be extremely careful of CAREFUL OF CHINA AND IT’S NOT SO HIDDEN AGENDA OF WORLD DOMINATION COULD LEAVE INDIA DESTABILISED AND WORSE OFF THAN PAKISTAN.
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Gus, Virginia, USANov 17th, 2006 - 14:35:41
It would be utterly short sighted ness of Indian leadership, if they downplay the risk of China. As per variuos blogs and news items it is clear that
-China is still indulging major espionage activities in India (with the help of Pakistanis)
-China is arming Pakistan in major way
-China has arm twisted india to conceede large land (tibet) for nothing remotely comparable.
-China is building up pressure on Sikkim and Askai Chin ( there was no sino indian border)
Also note
-Business with China is not one way street, even China is benefitting a lot, it is not a favor to india
-China building train tracks in tibet and other occupied territory is not economy it is bribing of local people and pumping large amount of chinese to fizzle out ressitance against china.
-It is illusion that China will support India in UN (as can be seen as spoiler in cas of India's UN candidate).
-China wants India to be weak and have parity only with pakistan and bangladesh
-China is only talking to india because it is nervous of US design . India should take advantage of this.
Indian leadership, esp. Communist should get out from china friendship mindset and see India as firts and foremost. Please do not mislead people and day dream otherwise another 1962 will repeat, with india loosing big way.
Beware of China!
Regards
Gus
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