ISLAMABAD – China has started sending strong signals to New Delhi on howNarendra Modi’s re-election would enhance “trust” in bilateral ties afterthe recent exit polls have indicated that the Indian prime minister ispoised to return to power.
Chinese mouthpiece Global Times in an article has said that there has beensteady growth in relations which was taken to a different level with theWuhan informal summit, despite the fact that the five-year stint has notbeen absolutely incident free.
There have been controversies where tensions soared, especially the Doklammilitary stand-off in June 2017.
Speaking to ANI news agency the Chinese ambassador to India Luo Zhaohuicalled Doklam a disagreement between brothers. “Something going wrongbetween two great neighbouring countries is natural, just like brothers ofa family living under one roof have issues, it is very natural”, he said.”If you compare family exchanges of 2,000 years, some minor problems arenothing.
Of course, it’s not nothing and we didn’t ignore that matter. We workedtogether and resolved the problem, which ensured that bilateral relationswere back on normal track,” he added.
The Global Times article mentions Prime Minister’s visit to ArunachalPradesh, his invitation to Prime Minister of “Tibetan government-in-exile”Lobsang Sangay to his swearing-in ceremony in 2014, but justifies them asBharatiya Janata Party’s narrative building.
“These acts were mostly to drum up support for his Bharatiya Janata Party[BJP]. In recent years, nationalism and the trend of returning to Hinduismhave increased in India, somewhat containing Modi’s policies toward China.
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But generally speaking, Modi’s policies have been sound,” reads thearticle. The essence of the article is that Modi separated “politicalconflicts” from “economic cooperation”. In the long run, China believesIndia can be the great partner and alternative to the United States ofAmerica should the trade war further spiral downwards.
Pushing for more cooperation between India and Pakistan, China once againhas emphasised the importance of Islamabad in its strategic structure. Thearticle urges naysayers in India not to label China as a “strategic rival”and fall into Washington’s trap.
It also tries to push the idea of Belt and Road Initiative as one that isbeneficial for India. For now, while China exudes positivity in PrimeMinister Modi’s return to power, the new establishment in New Delhi willhave to weigh its options and tread the strategic and diplomatic pathcarefully keeping India’s interest at the forefront.
By: Geeta Mohan
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