BEIJING : A day after he began three day China visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today took the Chinese media by storm with most of the national dailies putting India’s story on top. In many of the opinion pieces, the West was blamed for creating suspicions between the two Asian neighbours. “The dragon-elephant pas de deux has made headlines once again, but suspicions from the Western world soon poured in, saying the surface friendliness cannot cover the fact that Sino-Indian relations have irreconcilable maladies. No matter how much cooperation they can establish, border disputes will offset all progress,” Global times wrote in its today’s Editorial, titled ‘Sino-Indian ties can conquer West’s doubts’.
Global times generally reflects the Chinese communist party’s view point. “It is obvious that the Western elite doesn’t want to see India and China drawing closer to each other, because it will confront their vision for Asia’s future. As rising powers in this region, China and India, as partners or rivals, will make a huge difference to the geopolitical interests of the West,” the Editorial said. The Prime Minister kicked off his three-day historic visit to China yesterday with Chinese President Xi Jinping expressing the hope that the two countries could trust each other more and control their disputes to avoid weakening of bilateral ties.
Meanwhile, Chinese opinion makers have cautioned that it will be a long-term test for China and India to get rid of distractions imposed by the West and stick to a path which can benefit the national interest of both countries. “It must be noted that the bilateral relationship is still vulnerable to many sensitive issues. Although no bullets have been fired along the border for decades, tensions still remain.
“China and India should think out of the box where delusions of persecution prevail. Otherwise, cooperation can scarcely be conducted, and only distrust and hostility are rife,” the paper noted. “China and India have to make more concrete efforts to keep bilateral economic ties healthy and sustainable, because issues such as the trade imbalance, lack of direct investments and latent security threats are yet to be resolved”, said Han Hua, an associate professor of international studies at Peking University.
“Beijing and New Delhi have not fired a single shot across the border in any of the so-called clashes thanks to their adherence to the peace agreements, from the 1993 agreement on the maintenance of peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border area to the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement in 2013. If China and India remain committed to the policy of peace and diplomacy, they will inject new vitality into bilateral relations and the Asian growth story in the years ahead,” prof Han said.
“China is looking to India as a market for its increasingly high-tech goods, from high-speed trains to nuclear power plants, while India is keen to attract Chinese investment in manufacturing and infrastructure,” Shanghai Daily, another prominent Chinese newspaper, wrote. “With a slowing economy, excess production capacity and nearly US4 trillion dollars in foreign currency reserves, China is ready to satisfy India’s estimated US1 trillion dollars demand for infrastructure projects such as airports, roads, ports and railways,” it said. (AGENCIES)
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