Message from Sushma Swaraj's trip: PM Modi's govt will engage with China but won't ignore border issues

India-China bilateral relations are the most sensitive and complicated legacy that every Indian government has been inheriting from the previous government over the past five decades and the Narendra Modi government is no different in this respect.

Last September when Chinese president Xi Jinping paid his maiden visit to India, it was overshadowed by incursions by Chinese troops in Ladakh and the soldiers continued to stay put on Indian soil even after Xi’s instructions to maintain status quo ante. But surprisingly, the army troops did not pay heed to their President’s instructions and the incursion ended days after Xi left Indian shores.

Therefore, the boundary question has acquired even more significance in the bilateral engagement between India and China. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s ongoing maiden visit to China, therefore, acquires special significance in this context; all the more so as it comes soon after United States President Barack Obama’s visit to India last week. Also, since Xi’s visit to India in September last, this is the first time that the two giant neighbours are engaging with one another at the top political level.

So how is Sushma Swaraj playing Chinese checkers on her maiden visit to China since becoming foreign minister? Well, her China strategy seems to be a continuation of that employed by the previous UPA government led by Manmohan Singh. It can be summed up in one sentence: Engage with China on all developmental, trade and economic cooperation issues but don’t ignore the boundary dispute.

A sneak peek into her China strategy was visible on the first day of her official engagements during her three-day visit to China (1-3 February). She virtually hit the ground running, flagging all important bilateral issues, including a pointed reference to the vexing Sino-Indian boundary dispute issue while inaugurating the second India-China Media Forum in Beijing.

This only goes to show that the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is willing to take up the boundary issue as pro-actively as it can and not shove it under the carpet. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who is India’s Special Representative on boundary talks, is expected to be in China later this month to hold talks on the contentious issue with his Chinese counterpart.

Swaraj noted that the India-China relationship has reached a level where the two sides have interactions in fields that could not have been imagined some years ago and underlined “considerable progress” in establishing and expanding defence contacts and exchanges, including across the unsettled border issue over which the two sides have had flashpoints repeatedly since 2013. While she stressed the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility on the India-China border, she said, “On the boundary question, my government is committed to exploring an early settlement.”

She repeated the sentiments of her government when she met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for bilateral talks on Sunday evening.

While declaring her government’s intent on the boundary issue, she quickly pointed out a number of key initiatives addressing a wide range of ambitious goals that are unfolding in Sino-Indian bilateral context. In fact, she described China as India’s “key partner” while talking about the new unfolding initiatives.

“They provide new opportunities for cooperation insofar as our key international partners are concerned. Where China is concerned, this is very evident in the frequency of our high-level exchanges and the widening of our already substantive bilateral agenda,” she said.

She referred to three meetings PM Modi has had with President Xi Jinping and one meeting with Premier Keqiang since the new government took over eight months ago. Swaraj pointed to the fact she herself had received Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in June 2013, who incidentally happened to be the first foreign minister the Modi government had invited to India after assumption of office.

She referred to the growing economic dimension as a new “critical change” in the nature of India-China bilateral ties over the last few decades and referred to the ‘Closer Development Partnership’ policy paradigm agreed during President Xi’s recent India visit.

“China is today our largest partner in trade in goods. The two economies are moving to invest each other. Serious discussions on enhancing connectivity have been initiated. On that foundation, we are now seeking to take our economic cooperation to a qualitatively new level,” she said.

She flagged new area of collaboration in railways which includes heavy haulage, speed upgradation, station development and capacity building, and also referred another major thrust area of establishing industrial parks in two Indian states that would contribute to the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Swaraj’s China visit must be seen as a build-up towards PM Modi’s maiden visit to China, expected in May. Modi may begin his China visit by going to the Kailash Mansarovar shrine via the newly-opened Nathu La pass in Sikkim, a huge diplomatic symbolism.

The writer is a Consulting Editior with Firstpost and strategic analyst. He is currently visiting China as part of a select India media delegation at the invitation of Chinese government. His Twitter handle is @Kishkindha.