China, India need effective build up of mutual trust
By Colonel Awadhesh Kumar
The current international landscape clearly indicates that now the World has become multipolar with four Cardinal Poles – China, India, Russia and USA.
However ongoing conflicts all over the World also point out to ongoing balancing act between these four Poles and the lesser ones in Europe and Asia.
Therefore in the interest of World Peace, both ancient Civilizations China and India must recognize the historical trends and the direction of their bilateral relationship.
This approach will not only serve the fundamental interests of both nations and their people, but also resonates with the aspirations of all the developing countries and the Global South.
India and China must become partners that trust and respect each other, and help each other succeed, as they had done since the time of Buddha.
Moreover, they should earnestly implement the agreements reached during the meeting between the two sides in Ladakh and take decisive and effective actions to swiftly remove the restrictive and discriminatory measures that impede negotiation of the Indo Tibetan Border and its demarcation on ground.
This can then be followed by demarcation of China -Tibet border also.
It is important to value the existing trend of easing tensions in the border areas and sincerely work toward guiding bilateral relations back to a path of sustained, stable and healthy development.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently made a positive statement on China-India relations. He highlighted the deep historical ties between the two nations and underscored the need for dialogue over discord.
There have indeed been some positive signs of improvement in India-China relations lately. The two countries have notably stepped up high-level interaction and strategic communication, during the 23rd meeting of Special Representatives for Indo Tibetan Boundary Question in Beijing and the 32nd Meeting of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on Border Affairs in New Delhi, in December.
Prior to this, in November, the Rakhsa Mantri of the two countries met in Laos on the sidelines of the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus and both sides agreed on the significance of re-establishing trust and understanding through de-escalation of the situation at the LAC.
In February, when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Johannesburg, South Africa, the two sides re-emphasized the need to take the common understandings reached between the leaders of the two countries as fundamental guidance.
However, till the time the Indo Tibetan border is not physically demarcated India will not substantially relax the restrictions on people-to-people exchanges and economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
Things will not go back to the usual.In January this year the two countries had agreed to resume direct flights between the China and India, also coordinate and promote the competent departments of the two countries to take measures to facilitate personnel exchanges and mutual dispatch of journalists between the two countries.
However, to date, the two-way direct flights have not yet resumed. The resumption of people-to-people exchanges requires restoration of the broken mutual trust.
This can be restored only through a settled Indo Tibetan Boundary. India will not lift the ban on Chinese investments into the country soon, as there is a huge trust deficit.
China must reduce this trust deficit by firstly vacating all occupied Indian territory in Ladakh and Shakshagam Valley.
Secondly it must negotiate and demarcate the Indo Tibetan border. Thirdly China must stop all its economic activities in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Ten only trust will start building up slowly but surely.
