NEWDELHI: India expects the recent tension in its ties with China toease before Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels next week tosoutheastern coastal city Xiamen for the BRICS summit.Positive signals from the hosts ahead of the September 3-5 summitcould help set the agenda for talks between Prime Minister Modi andChinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the five-nationmeeting being held amid the continued rhetoric from Beijing onDokalam.
Talks between the two leaders could help ease the row at the crucialtri-junction near Sikkim.While there are no early signals of tensions being defusedimmediately, there is a possibility that the prime minister's forthcoming visit could begin the process for a thaw in ties that haveremained frosty since mid-June. President Xi's focus will shift to theParty Congress within a month of the BRICS summit. It remains to beseen if the all-powerful Chinese leader is able to achieve peace alongthe Line of Actual Control (LAC) ahead of the party conclave that islargely expected to re-elect him, pointed out one of the personsmentioned above.
China has much to lose internationally if the Dokalam crisisovershadows the BRICS summit held under its presidency, andBeijing can't afford that as it seeks to establish its credentials as theglobal superpower, according to Sinologists.To be sure, there are some indications that the crisis could still getprolonged and the standoff may continue beyond the CommunistParty Congress. A different approach may then have to be put inplace. When Indian Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat Saturdaymentioned the likelihood of future crises along other parts of the4,057-km- long LAC, he may have hinted that the PLA couldsimultaneously transgress in various areas after failing to achieve itsmission in Dokalam due to India's firm position.
Unlike China, India has maintained restraint and emphasised that it isfocusing on diplomacy to end the crisis. Diplomatic parleys areongoing in Beijing and Delhi simultaneously to achieve status quo atDokalam. This is probably the last opportunity for Modi and Xi tomeet each other this year as the schedule for the rest of the yearcan't squeeze in another summit-level opportunity. Therefore, Modi'sproposed visit to China amid the border standoff assumes furthersignificance. While the Indian PM will travel to Manila in November for the East Asia Summit, China will be represented there by itspremier, not the President.Under such circumstances, efforts are afoot to ensure that the visit by the Indian PM has a positive outcome. The logistics associated with the visit are also being put in place. Russia, which considers BRICSimportant and wants cooperation among the group's member states,is working with both Delhi and Beijing to defuse the border crisis,according to people familiar with the developments. There are indications that President Vladimir Putin could play a key role at the high table in Xiamen in helping solve the Sino-Indianissues. A bilateral meeting between Modi and Putin is also in the
works on the sidelines of BRICS Summit.International affairs experts who have followed the evolution of BRICS refer to the fact that such multilateral platforms help member- states strengthen their bilateral ties and iron out wrinkles. Member states of BRICS are toying with various proposals, including a military partnership, a credit-ratings agency, an energy agency, and a permanent base, to make the platform more relevant.
Leave a Reply