India and China are taking baby steps to normalise ties that went into a tailspin since the military confrontatio💫n in the summer of 2020. Now, after nearly five years, relations are on the mend. But i🧸t is 🙈a graded lifting of restrictions, as New Delhi proceeds with caution.
Foreign secretary Vikram Misri was in Beijing last week for talks with China’s Vice Foreign Mi🌺nister Sun Weidong, where the two officials took stock of bilateral relations. At the end of the conversation, some people-c𒉰entric measures were announced to stabilise ties.
The annual Kailash Mansarovar yatra will resume this summer. For Hindus Mount Kailash in Tibet is a sacred place believed to be the abode of Lord Shiva. A dip in the Mansarovar lake's icy cold waters is said to wash away the pilgrim's sins. &ꦗnbsp;
Media and think tank interactions would also resume. M🃏ore importantly, the two sides also discussed economic and trade related issues and promoting long-term policy transparency and predictability.&nbs🦩p;
One of the reasons for India’s decision to improve relations with China is the economy. JNU’s Alka Acharya, an expert on China, had predicted soon after Modi's third term began that pragmatism demands an easing of tension 𓄧with China. The economic challenges faced by India demanded that restrictions on travel and trade with China be lifted. She had said then that India🉐 "cannot be in a time warp".
Soon after China’s massive incursions into Indian territory in Ladakh, New Delhi had banned over 230 Chinese apps, including Tik-Tok. Air travel to China, which had stopped during Covid, were not resumed. But India’s eꦦconomy suffered because a lot of raw material needed for manufacturing came from China. This is the case not just for India; supply chains across the world gets disrupted when countries 𒉰ban imports from China.
Misri’s recent visit to Beijing is an attempt to rebuild bilateral relations. Acharya calls this the "push and pull" factor. The push is basically the economy. She says that employment becoming a major challenge for the government is driving India's decision to seriously engage with China. The resumption of direct flights announced after Misri’s visit is also because business leaders f💙r🗹om every segment--from large corporations to the medium and small business groups--have been asking the government for this. Indian business wants better working ties with China.
Pull is what Acharya dubs "the rejig of international diplomacy"’ with Donald Trump’s return to the White House. There is an air of uncertainty around the world and every country is hedging its bets, including India and China. Though Trump and Modi had a good rapport during his last term, the US President has been railing against high tariff regimes put in place by China, Brazil and India. Though China is Trump’s principle target, other nations can’t take anything for granted. Normalising relations with each other in these uncertain times is good🧸 for both India and China. &n💎bsp;
Yet, despite all these considerations, the Modi ▨government and the Indian military, do not trust China. 🃏So New Delhi will take each step with caution. It will be a slow process of getting relations to the pre-2020 level.
Neither side have yet called back troops that were amassed four years ago along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh. Soldiers have moved back from eyeball-to-eyeball contact, but they have not left the area. The India military remain a few kilometres away from the LAC and is ready to take🥀 positions if the situation deteriorates. Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi has ruled out pulling back troops till his commanders are confident that there is a dramatic improvement on the ground. Confid𝕴ence and trust have to be rebuilt step by step.
China has 🌺not made it easier by giving conflicting signals. Building of infrastructure has continued unabated along the LAC both in the eastern and western borders.
The thaw began after an agreement on disengagement in the last two friction points at Demchok and the Depsang plains was finally hammered out by field commanders on both sides Once that happened Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Kazan during the BRICS summit in Russia. This was a si✃gnal that both countries were now ready to improve ties. Earlie𓄧r the two leaders did not hold bilateral exchanges in multilateral gatherings.
