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Predicting closer China-India ties
By Yukteshwar Kumar |
December 16, 2010, Thursday
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THE current visit of Premier Wen Jiabao to India is destined to be remarkable, successful and historical.
After Premier Zhou Enlai, Wen will be the first Chinese Premier to visit India more than a time in the same role.
Zhou Enlai's visit to India in June 1954 was indeed a historical trip. Premier Zhou attached high importance to Sino-Indian interaction and over three years, he visited India three times.
In the context of high-level visits between the leaders of the two countries, Premier Wen's April 2005 visit to India is still fresh for ordinary Indian people.
Although India was on the last leg of his four-nation South Asian trip, it was the most important and successful visit.
He came to India after visiting Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka while this time he will first visit India and then set off for Pakistan.
Wen had already established very good rapport with the Indian leadership at that time and, since the ruling party and main leaders have not changed since then, it will be easier for the Chinese premier to further consolidate the bilateral relationship on the basis of a sound foundation laid back in 2005.
While Wen's first visit to India as premier was more oriented to advance Sino-Indian cultural and political interface, his current visit seems more geared towards boosting Sino-Indian economic and trade relations.
Although Sino-Indian trade is going to hover around US$60 billion this year, the huge potential of the two economies is still untapped.
It is reported that Wen's entourage of businessmen will be the biggest ever, around 260 prominent Chinese business figures.
Sino-Indian trade has quadrupled in the last 5 years and has come a long way from less than US$1 billion 15 years ago to almost US$60 billion today.
Most of India's exports to China are raw materials and basic products, but Indian businessmen are seeking to diversify exports.
Win-win
China will want to further improve its ties with India in the IT sector. In his 2005, Wen's first stop was Bangalore, the hub of India's IT sector. It was there that Wen said, "China-India collaboration in the IT sector will herald a new Asian Century in IT."
He then called for closer co-operation and balancing China's superiority in hardware and India's superiority in software. Through his current visit it is expected that he will again stress that point, backed by a business delegation.
Although this is only the second India trip by the Chinese premier, this is the 11th time he has met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Both these prudent leaders have held very fruitful talks before and they would like to carry the same sentiments and bonhomie further ahead.
As India's prime minister has said, "The world is large enough to accommodate the ambitions of the two countries," which it certainly is.
Indeed, the two countries should strive to achieve a "win-win situation" rather than a "wane-wane" one.
(The author is course director of Chinese stream at the University of Bath, UK, and has taught and researched for several years in leading Indian and Chinese universities. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
After Premier Zhou Enlai, Wen will be the first Chinese Premier to visit India more than a time in the same role.
Zhou Enlai's visit to India in June 1954 was indeed a historical trip. Premier Zhou attached high importance to Sino-Indian interaction and over three years, he visited India three times.
In the context of high-level visits between the leaders of the two countries, Premier Wen's April 2005 visit to India is still fresh for ordinary Indian people.
Although India was on the last leg of his four-nation South Asian trip, it was the most important and successful visit.
He came to India after visiting Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka while this time he will first visit India and then set off for Pakistan.
Wen had already established very good rapport with the Indian leadership at that time and, since the ruling party and main leaders have not changed since then, it will be easier for the Chinese premier to further consolidate the bilateral relationship on the basis of a sound foundation laid back in 2005.
While Wen's first visit to India as premier was more oriented to advance Sino-Indian cultural and political interface, his current visit seems more geared towards boosting Sino-Indian economic and trade relations.
Although Sino-Indian trade is going to hover around US$60 billion this year, the huge potential of the two economies is still untapped.
It is reported that Wen's entourage of businessmen will be the biggest ever, around 260 prominent Chinese business figures.
Sino-Indian trade has quadrupled in the last 5 years and has come a long way from less than US$1 billion 15 years ago to almost US$60 billion today.
Most of India's exports to China are raw materials and basic products, but Indian businessmen are seeking to diversify exports.
Win-win
China will want to further improve its ties with India in the IT sector. In his 2005, Wen's first stop was Bangalore, the hub of India's IT sector. It was there that Wen said, "China-India collaboration in the IT sector will herald a new Asian Century in IT."
He then called for closer co-operation and balancing China's superiority in hardware and India's superiority in software. Through his current visit it is expected that he will again stress that point, backed by a business delegation.
Although this is only the second India trip by the Chinese premier, this is the 11th time he has met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Both these prudent leaders have held very fruitful talks before and they would like to carry the same sentiments and bonhomie further ahead.
As India's prime minister has said, "The world is large enough to accommodate the ambitions of the two countries," which it certainly is.
Indeed, the two countries should strive to achieve a "win-win situation" rather than a "wane-wane" one.
(The author is course director of Chinese stream at the University of Bath, UK, and has taught and researched for several years in leading Indian and Chinese universities. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.)
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