Xi Stoops To Conquer

China privileges its converging interests with Pakistan over benefits of warm ties with India.

- Pranay Sharma

Unlike Pakistan, readily iden­tified as a bitterly hostile neighbour and ‘state sponsor of terrorism’, most Indians and the country’s leadership in particular, holds a more am­ bivalent opinion about China.

Significantly, though the much bandied about ‘all-weather’ Sino-Pak ties have usually worked to India’s detriment, leaders in New Delhi, who mercilessly castigate Pakistan, show much more restraint and caution in criticising China in public. Views critical of China are mostly limited to opinion pieces in the media or aired by retired government officials in TV debates. A statement from South Block against Beijing is a rarity. “Our relations with China are not in black and white; they are more in the gray,” affirms a senior Indian diplomat. His remarks are reflective of the differing assessment, born out of past experience and ground reality, the Indian leadership have about the two neighbours.

With Pakistan, successive generations of Indian leaders and diplomats have spent entire careers in pursuing policies in the hope of normalising and improving relations. Unfortunately, most have ended in failures, leading Delhi’s political establishment to resignedly conclude at times that ‘good neighbourly’ relations with Pakistan would remain elusive, especially as long as Islamabad opts for cross-border terror as the most effective tool in its engagement with India.

With China, however, India’s relations have mostly been layered, providing the two countries to look for areas of cooperation of mutual benefit, even as their differences on crucial issues remain. The best example is their disputed boundary that, even after nearly six decades, is still unresolved. But this has not intruded in the two nations’ cooperation in other areas, especially in trade and other economic fields and also at international and multilateral fora to further common interests.