BEIJING – China has asked India to avoid making South Asia a battle field,since it might be counter-productive for New Delhi.
Recently, Sri Lanka declared a 10-day state of emergency following clashesbetween majority Buddhists and members of the minority Muslim community inKandy in the central part of the country. Many observers believe that itmight be India that incited the riots through social media.
The riots indeed triggered concern in India with mainstream media outletscontinuously running updates about the unrest. However, no extraordinaryconcern was found in the reports, which concentrated more on the India-SriLanka cricket match.
Some Indian reports quoted the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry ofForeign Affairs. However, they did not hype up the China factor. On thewhole, India reacted rationally and prudently.
The Indian response is not surprising. First, few international factors areinvolved in the Sri Lankan unrest as it is a result of the nation’sdeep-rooted ethnic and religious divide. In fact, India, like China, doesnot want riots in Sri Lanka.
Not only does India want to protect its investment, industries and otherinterests in Sri Lanka, it is also worried that turmoil in neighboringcountries will enable nations outside the region to intervene in South Asia.
Second, with a pro-India government in Colombo, there is no reason for NewDelhi to try to change Sri Lanka’s current regime.
With the start of the election year, changes have taken place in the SouthAsian region. In January, Nepal’s left-wing parties won a landslidevictory, and a “pro-China” prime minister, Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, cameinto office. In February when Maldives declared a “state of emergency,” itwas rumored that China was planning to “build a joint ocean observationstation in the island nation.”
Later, Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and his party wonlocal government elections and unrest broke out in March. Therefore, somereports claimed that all three neighboring countries of India changed sidesand leaned toward China.
There is no denying that China has become increasingly popular among smalland medium countries in South Asia since the Belt and Road initiative waslaunched. However, China’s popularity is based on the common developmentvision between Beijing and South Asian countries.
The bonhomie will not last long if China fails to bring tangible benefitsto local people and promote the development in those countries.South Asian countries, inextricably linked with India, cannot and ought notto take sides.
The rivalry between China and India in South Asia is not a “zero-sum game.”China’s development in South Asia will not impede, but instead facilitateIndia’s friendly relations with other regional countries.
India’s dominance in South Asia has led New Delhi to regard the region asits “backyard” for a long time, prompting the government to adoptdiscriminatory foreign policy toward countries in the region. China’s entryinto South Asia with focus on economic and trade cooperation will give afillip to regional development, peace and stability, and be beneficial toIndia’s policy toward its neighbors in the long run.
Finally, with the progress of globalization, China’s development in theSouth Asian region will bring benefits to China, India, South and SoutheastAsian countries.
Indian, Chinese or media outlets in other countries should not make toomany misleading political interpretations about the situation.