Xi will hold formal talks with Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday and sign a series of agreements expected to include nuclear cooperation and new Chinese-funded industrial parks
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out the red carpet for Xi Jinping in his hometown on Wednesday, as the Chinese president began a maiden visit with both sides seeking to reset the relationship between Asia’s rival superpowers.
Modi has pulled out all the stops for Xi’s arrival, organising an intimate riverside dinner in Ahmedabad, the main city in his home state of Gujarat, where giant billboards in Chinese, Gujarati and English have been put up to welcome him.
With both sides eager to emphasise cooperation over competition, Xi said in an article published Wednesday that “the world’s factory and the world’s back office” made a winning combination, welcoming Indian businesses to China and pledging much-needed funding for infrastructure development.
Despite his hardline nationalist reputation, Modi moved quickly to engage with China after winning office this year on a campaign promise to revive India’s flagging economy, which experts say has been held back by weak infrastructure.
But Modi has also made clear he sees China as a competitor and intends to pursue a more muscular foreign policy than the previous centre-left Congress party government.
During his election campaign, he said that China would have to shed what he called its “expansionist mindset”, although he also spoke of his admiration for China’s economic success.
The neighbours, now nuclear-armed, fought a brief but bloody war in 1962 over the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern Himalayas, and are still embroiled in a bitter dispute over the territory.
Border issues are on the agenda for Xi’s visit, but both sides say they want to focus on economic cooperation, with India seeking Chinese funding for an overhaul of its dilapidated railways and cooperation in nuclear energy.
“China-India relations have become one of the most dynamic and promising bilateral relations in the 21st century,” wrote Xi in the article in The Hindu daily.
China is India’s biggest trading partner, with annual two-way commerce of more than $65 billion. But Indian data shows the trade deficit with China has soared to more than $40 billion from just $1 billion in 2001-02.
Experts said China would seek to allay Indian concerns over the widening deficit as it tries to cement its relationship with its western neighbour at a time of heightened tensions with Japan and several Southeast Asian nations over disputed sea territory.Tibet protesters detained
Modi enjoys a close relationship with Japan’s President Shinzo Abe, and analysts have said he may be able to leverage Beijing’s rivalry with Tokyo to secure Chinese investment.
China’s consul-general in Mumbai Liu Youfa told the Times of India daily ahead of the visit that Xi would “commit investments of over $100 billion”, pointing out that this was three times the amount pledged by Japan during a visit by Modi earlier this month.
Xi heads to India after visiting the Maldives and Sri Lanka as China increasingly asserts its influence in a region that has traditionally come under India’s sphere of influence.
The presence in India of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, is another source of tension between India and China.
Police in New Delhi detained around 10 Tibetan protesters outside the Chinese embassy on Wednesday morning.
Another Tibetan was detained at the former hermitage of independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, now a museum, which Xi was due to visit later Wednesday.
The man, who was carrying a Tibetan flag, said he was there “to tell Xi to free Tibet”.
Xi will on Thursday hold formal talks with Modi and India’s President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi and sign a series of agreements expected to include nuclear cooperation and new Chinese-funded industrial parks.
But Wednesday will be an opportunity for the two leaders — who met in July at a BRICS summit in Brazil — to talk in a less formal setting.
Overcoming this mistrust continues to be a major obstacle. The legacy of history remains a problem. Every time there is a border incident it reinforces the narrative that has prevailed in many quarters in India since the 1962 China-India war: that China only understands strength; that while Beijing’s leaders say China and India “must shake hands,” they cannot be trusted—that one hand held out might just be a precursor to the other stabbing one in the back.
At present, India is giving a warm welcome to Chinese in its home ground. No need to go far away, just look into few months back in its electoral campaign. It was the very BJP along with Modi who openly slam Chinese and categorically mentions its expansionist pursuits. Economy plays an instrumental role in Indian inclination towards China. The welcoming country knows very well its worth for India along with very intentions of BJP Government primarily Modi towards China. India knows this very well that it cannot keep itself apart from China booming economy. In simple words, India is dependent on Chinese fastest growth and development that’s why Modi rolls out a red carpet.
But the contentious Sino-Indian border issue cast a shadow on the summit between India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi. Words of Modi pre-election 'congress treating the Pak PM with chicken biryani when our outpost is attacked by Pakistan. What is this guy doing now? spending billions on someone who is grabbing Indian territory everyday. Taking billions of investment and selling our mother land. Have some shame Mr. Modi. Weakest PM of India.
Though, China and India have agreed on various accords but the intensity of disputes between these two states are much greater than the agreements. Frequent border skirmishes is one example. The border face off has larger impact than Gujraat Bhai Bhai drama. Mr Xi has vast knowledge about Indian dual policies. So he will be well prepared do deal with policy of deception.
India is playing a dual policy; Hindu ideology of Akhand Bharat clearly projects the Indian foreign that it wants to occupy the maximum territory. India has territorial dispute with all neighboring states, China historically owns Ladakh and Tibet but Indian soft power image has proven to be a myth.
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