It says Indian government should completely stop supporting the Dalai Lama, and stop making the Tibetan issue a stumbling block.
Press Trust of India, The Indian Express, 13 May 2015
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China, a Chinese columnist in a state-run newspaper said that Modi is “playing little tricks” over border disputes and security issues, hoping to boost his domestic prestige and increase his leverage in negotiations with China.
Writing in the Chinese Communist party-run Global Times, Hu Zhiyong — a research fellow with the Institute of International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences — said that Modi’s diplomatic moves last year have proven that he is a pragmatist, rather than a visionary.
In an effort to strengthen mutual political trust, Hu said, “Modi should no longer visit the disputed border region in pursuit of his own political interests, nor should he deliver any remarks that infringe on the consensus on bilateral ties.” He was referring to Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims to be “south Tibet”.
Also, he wrote that the Indian government should completely stop supporting the Dalai Lama, and stop making the Tibetan issue a stumbling block to the China-India relationship.
In an article published under the headline “Can Modi’s visit upgrade China-India ties?”, Hu wrote the top lead of the opinion page.
Normally, the Chinese state media reflects the government’s stance on issues. This is part of a very carefully calibrated strategy to retain deniability on the part of the Chinese government. However, it is unusual to publish a critical opinion piece on the eve of a high-level visit, which sends mixed signals and has the potential to queer the pitch.
“Ever since Modi assumed office, he has taken the initiative to actively develop India’s relationships with Japan, the US, and European countries in no time, in order to promote the country’s poor infrastructure construction and economic development. But his diplomatic moves last year have proven that he is a pragmatist, rather than a visionary,” he wrote.
“Modi has been busy strengthening India’s ties with neighbouring countries to compete with China, while trying to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities for economic development created by China, as Beijing is actively carrying forward the “One Belt and One Road” initiative. Modi has also been playing little tricks over border disputes and security issues, hoping to boost his domestic prestige while increasing his leverage in negotiations with China,” he said, in his opinion piece, adding that “the ball is in India’s court to deepen the bilateral relations”.
However, a number of Indian elites deem the rise of Beijing as threat of New Delhi’s development, and make comparisons between the two sides in every aspect, which risks dragging the bilateral ties into vicious competition, he wrote. As a matter of fact, he wrote, the development of China and India is at different levels with different characteristics, and there is simply no comparison between the two.
“Due to historical feud and mutual mistrust that stems from geopolitics, the two sides have never established real strategic trust. Leaders from both China and India should not only strengthen mutual political trust, but also stick to a series of agreed principles and match their rhetoric with action. In light of this, Modi should no longer visit the disputed border region in pursuit of his own political interests, nor should he deliver any remarks that infringe on the consensus on bilateral ties. Meanwhile, the Indian government should completely stop supporting the Dalai Lama, and stop making the Tibetan issue a stumbling block to the Sino-Indian relationship,” he wrote.
“When it comes to the economic ties, despite the fact that China has already become India’s largest trading partner, India’s trade deficit with China keeps rising sharply. New Delhi is reluctant to admit the widening trade gap is its own fault, nor is it willing to examine its own economic structure and the quality of its exports to China. Instead, it has been repeatedly accusing or directing its anger at China,” he wrote.
The article said that the Indian government should “loosen up” on the limits of cross-border trade with China, reduce the trade deficit, improve the efficiency of government administrations, and relax the visa restrictions, in order to attract more Chinese companies to invest in India. Furthermore, people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries are “far from enough”, it said. “People from both China and India lack the most basic mutual understanding and interactions,” he wrote.
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