China seeks meeting as India, Japan get closer
After a series of provocative moves by China in recent months, signalling a shift in its position on Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh, that saw India “pause” all military and defence talks, Beijing has moved to bring ties with New Delhi back on keel by “initiating” a meeting between their respective Prime Ministers when the East Asia Summit opens in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi on October 29.
China will clearly be the elephant in the room when PM Manmohan Singh, who arrived in Tokyo on Sunday on the first leg of a three-nation East-Southeast Asian tour that includes Malaysia and Vietnam, meets Japanese PM Naoto Kan on Monday and sets the seal on a long-term strategic and defence relationship with Tokyo, which former diplomats believe is the primary impetus behind China’s attempt to rebuild bridges with India.
“They asked for the meeting,” sources revealed, adding that China would like a resumption of dialogue between the countries’ special area representatives, who have so far held nine rounds of talks on territory claimed by China but failed to reach any definitive conclusion.
India, sources said, had no intention of bringing ties back up to the same level as existed prior to the denial of a visa to Jammu and Kashmir-based Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal, GOC-in-C, Northern Command, and the buildup of Chinese forces in Gilgit and Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where some reports indicate Pakistan has given the green light to the building of missile silos along the Indo-Pakistan border.
In the face of a growing presence of Chinese forces under the guise of rebuilding the Karakoram highway, sources said India had raised the issue with Chinese officials only for it to be strenuously denied.
“We have evidence of their presence in PoK and will bring it up when thetwo Prime Ministers meet in Hanoi,” the sources said.
Former diplomats believe that the other prime mover behind China’s move to mend fences with its South Asian neighbour is the entry to the East Asian grouping of the United States and Russia as Pacific nations with legitimate interests in the region. While sources continue to officially dismiss th e theory that Japan and the smaller states in the region as well as the US and Russia — “with whom India already has an old and valued friendship” — want to build up India as a coun-terweight to China, the entry of two heavyweights like Washington and Moscow point to moves to stop China from being the sole driver in the region.
Sources said that India, despite the recent territorial claims by China over disputed islands in the Sea of Japan, had little interest in casting China as the big bad wolf and would much rather work with Beijing to minimise points of difference.
Post new comment