Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has returned from yet another explosive and much-talked about international bilateral visit, this time, to China. Modi went on a two-day visit to the neighbour's and arrived in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where he was welcomed warmly. Modi later met Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed him with a warm hand shake and hosted grand welcoming ceremony for him at the Hubei Provincial Museum. The Indian PM was greeted with a classical Chinese dance opera performance, after which, Jinping took him around some of the most historical art collections and cultural relics of the country's ancient civilisation.
The bilateral summit, for which Modi crossed the seas to meet with an otherwise frigid neighbour, has been touted to be unique as both the leaders were under no pressure to sign any agreements nor make any kind of big announcements. This was perhaps one of the rare times when both the countries in focus could hold candid discussions on solutions to the issues at hand.
Avoid future Doklam situations and build trust
In the meet, both Modi and Jinping made strong commitment to avoid future Doklam issues and reduce border tensions. They issued “strategic guidance” to their militaries to build trust and enhance “predicability and effectiveness” in managing border affairs. The Indian statement on the Modi-Xi informal summit said, “The two leaders underscored the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility in all areas of the India-China border region in the larger interest of the overall development of bilateral relations.” The statement, in a detailed paragraph devoted to the border dispute and military frictions, said the leaders urged the special representatives of India and China working on the “boundary question” to intensify efforts to seek a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable” settlement.
Specific issues were not brought to light, as was agreed upon, however, China's preparedness to acknowledge a direction to the Chinese military comes as a significant move. Modi said the first-ever summit between the two countries can now define the relationship between the countries and can be the building blocks of a future that emphasises a convergence of interests. He told Jinping that the “positives” characterising bilateral ties are soch, sampark, sahyog, sankalp, and sapne. The meet which was initially scheduled to be held for 30 minutes, reportedly lasted for about two hours as both the leaders promoted a desire to impart a new pace to ties and preventing disputes from holding relations to ransom.
Xi emphasised on the need to build a common understanding, adding that he hoped friendship between the countries will continue to flow like the Ganga and Yangtze.
India-China border likely to cool down
Following the meeting, it is speculated that the heightened military tensions along the Line of Actual Control since last year's 73-day long Doklam confrontation will de-escalate now, even though constant troop confrontations continue to take place. Senior defence officials said the decision at the informal summit between Modi and Jinping to issue “strategic guidance” to their militaries has simplified to ordering their troops to defuse confrontations during patrolling.
A senior officer said, “There will be some cooling down of operational tensions. There are enough mechanisms in place, from banner drills, flag meetings and border personnel meetings (BPMs) to the WMCC (working mechanism for consultation and coordination) and diplomatic channels, to manage and defuse face-offs.” However, it is also to be noted that the implementation on ground has not been very effective. The 2013's Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA), for instance, is not completely operational to this day. Reports say there are 23 “areas of dispute” identified along the 4,057 km LAC, stretching from Ladakh to Arunachal, where patrols constantly tail rival patrols, triggering face-offs.
The officer said, “Hopefully, the two sides will now show restraint to avoid major confrontations, return to their posts, and raise and resolve the incidents in flag meetings or BPMs at the local level itself. We will, of course, not let down our guard.” Both the countries now look to set up the long-pending hotline between the operations directorates of their central military headquarters. The officer said, “China initially said it did not have a counterpart to the Indian DGMO, while also seeking a 48-hour notice to activate the hotline. But the PLA now has its own service headquarters and can identify an equivalent to our DGMO.”
India and China unite for Af project
A major takeaway from the Modi-Xi summit, India and China have agreed to work jointly on an economic project in Afghanistan. The development has expected to put Pakistan on the edge as it has worked extra hard to exclude India from a region it considers to be its strategic backyard. An official source revealed that both the countries discussed participation in a project and that details are being worked out through diplomatic channels. They said, “It's a sign that the two leaders, to an extent, did manage to address the distrust which has marked ties in the past few years.”
It is understood that officials from India and China will identify the project in following up discussions and work out modalities. This will be a first such project in the war-torn country where China while trying to expand its influence has tacitly backed Pakistan, which has been accused by Afghanistan and the US of backing the Taliban and its most violent attacks in the country destabilising any attempts to restore peace.
