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In India, Chinese Leader Pushes Trade

17 December 2010 00:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. China and India set ambitious new economic targets on Thursday by pledging to nearly double their trade in the next five years to $100 billion annually. But the two Asian giants appeared to make little progress on tough geopolitical differences over Pakistan, terrorism and their disputed border, APA reports quoting The New York Times.
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China, who is visiting India this week for the first time since 2005, spoke warmly about Indo-Chinese relations and of how the two nations could mutually prosper without encroaching upon the other.
â€œWe are friends, not rivals,â€ Mr. Wen said during an afternoon speech at the Indian Council of World Affairs. â€œWe will always be friends and will never be rivals. This should be the firm conviction of every Chinese and every Indian.â€
Mr. Wenâ€™s agenda in New Delhi has been two-fold: expanding trade and trying to open Indiaâ€™s markets to Chinese companies, while also offering reassurances that China does not represent a threat to Indiaâ€™s own rise. It is a message that comes as growing Chinese assertiveness in the region has worried India and many other Asian nations. And it comes as the United States and India pledged to create a deeper partnership after last monthâ€™s visit by President Obama.
Mr. Wen, who has cultivated an avuncular public image rare among Chinese leaders, has waged a charm campaign in India. He visited an international school in New Delhi where he encouraged the students to call him â€œGrandpa Wenâ€ and offered a lesson in Chinese calligraphy by writing â€œChina and India are friends.â€
During his Thursday afternoon speech, Mr. Wen spoke of the great Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore, describing him as a â€œhousehold nameâ€ in China â€” a gracious assessment, if probably an inaccurate one, given that that Tagore died almost 70 years ago. He also described his morning visit to the memorial of Mohandas K. Gandhi, the father of modern India and exemplar of Indian democracy, as a deeply emotional moment, saying that Gandhi â€œhas always lived in my heart.â€
Despite such sentiments, Mr. Wen did not appear to offer any breakthroughs on the hardest issues. The two countries agreed to open a hotline between the two prime ministers and schedule regular visits between top leaders. Yet India had hoped Mr. Wen might offer a clear endorsement of Indiaâ€™s ambitions for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council as President Obama did last month. Instead, Mr. Wen spoke in more vague language that fell short of an endorsement.
India also has been concerned about Chinaâ€™s support of Pakistan and its reluctance to pressure its ally to combat the terror groups operating on Pakistani soil. Indiaâ€™s Foreign Secretary, Nirupama Rao, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Indian leaders presented their concerns that Pakistan should do more to eradicate terror groups during high-level meetings held on Thursday.
â€œWe were able to express our concerns quite clearly,â€ Ms. Rao told reporters during an afternoon briefing. â€œThe Chinese premier was given a very clear understanding.â€
Asked if Mr. Wenâ€™s visit had essentially accomplished little except maintain the status quo, Ms. Rao said the relationship was slowly moving forward. â€œI would say this is a gradual process,â€ she said.
Mr. Wen arrived on Wednesday with about 300 Chinese business executives. The two countries cut business deals worth about $16 billion and signed agreements on Thursday that, among other things, would allow Chinese banks to open branches in India for the first time. Trade between the two countries has risen sharply in recent years as could approach $60 billion in 2010.
â€œThe rapid expansion of our economic cooperation has been one of the major achievements of the last five years,â€ Ms. Rao said, noting that the two nations had agreed to establish a strategic economic dialogue. She added: â€œWe are now creating an enabling environment to reach the next economic frontier.â€
Yet it remains unclear if this optimism will be enough to ease other sharp differences.
India protested sharply when Chinese officials began stapling a separate paper visa â€“ rather than the usual stamp â€“ for anyone from the state of Jammu andKashmir applying to travel to China. To India, this was a deliberate challenge to Indian sovereignty over Kashmir, the Himalayan region long the subject of a territorial dispute between India and Chinaâ€™s ally, Pakistan.
Ms. Rao said that Mr. Wen raised the stapled visa issue without prompting and recommended that the two sides establish an â€˜in-depthâ€™ consultation to find a solution. Indeed, Chinaâ€™s friendship with Pakistan is a source of growing discontent in New Delhi. Indian officials have criticized Chinese plans to build two nuclear reactors in Pakistan, fearing that nuclear materials could fall into the hands of terrorists targeting India. India also wants Beijing to join the United States and other nations in condemning the Nov. 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai and to pressure Pakistan to the perpetrators to justice.
â€œThis is a damage limitation exercise,â€ said a retired Indian diplomat, Lalit Mansingh, when asked of Chinaâ€™s agenda for the trip. â€œWen Jiabao is coming to reassure India that all is well, that we are good friends and economic partners.â€
Mr. Wen is easily the most popular Chinese leader in New Delhi. His 2005 visit was credited with improving relations as he and Mr. Singh agreed on a broad framework to address the longstanding border disputes between the two countries. Yet five years later, little progress has been made on border issues, even as China has become more assertive in regard to the contested Indian border state of Arunachal Pradesh. At the same time, water is another contentious issue, amid reports that China is undertaking hydro projects in Tibet that could affect water flow on the Brahmaputra River in India.
In his speech, Mr. Wen offered assurances that China would be responsible in any hydro projects in the Himalayas to insure that downstream nations would not be impacted. He also cited the border dispute and asked for patience, saying more time and more mutual trust were needed.
â€œThe most important thing to do is press ahead along the right road, and narrow differences,â€ he said.