Jaishankar in China, a high-stakes visit
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s high-stake visit to China has begun, first five years, most of which were defined by the military standoff in eastern Ladakh , from April 2020 to October 2024. Now it’s the time to turn the corner.
Jaishankar will be attending the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting (CFM) being hosted north Chinese city of Tianjin, and also undertaking a visit to China. “In addition to attending the meeting, India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will also pay a visit to China,” said spokesman of Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 12.
This holds extraordinary significance as India and China can put on table all the issues between them to improve their ties, and also dynamics of the world order. What India and China can do together perhaps no other combination in the rest of the world can do.
The world order at the moment is in the middle of huge armed conflicts and economic turbulences. It needs strong forces to calm the conflicts and issue a roadmap for the future.
This visit has hefty potential for the two Asian giants who have a lot in common despite being the strategic and economic competitors at the world stage. Their keenness to dominate the Asian affairs is hardly a secret.
It is here where peoples J&K and Ladakh have their interest in the visit as it holds critical importance for them. The military standoff between the two nations has ended in Ladakh but the hangover hasn’t. It directly impacts the situation in Kashmir as well.
Beijing and Delhi have different ways of looking at the things. India believes that it has solved the Kashmir issue with the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state of J&K into two union territories, China has different thoughts and standpoint.
Pakistan occupied territories of Gilgit-Baltistan and PoJK form the cornerstone of China -Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) - pilot project of China’s ambitious geopolitical project - Belt and Road Initiative ( BRI) - an eyesore for India.
The real task at the moment for India and China both is to move past their areas of conflict without compromising on sovereignty and territorial integrity. It needs a lot of pragmatism, avoiding over-optimization. At the same time, they should be addressing their differences, not overplaying them.
Diplomacy is not an overnight phenomenon. It takes time especially when reverses place additional roadblocks. Clearing these roadblocks becomes a priority before working on the new opportunities. It is imperative that a way out should be searched by turning challenges into opportunities by drawing a blueprint for future rooted in mutual respect.
There is an expressed willingness to improve their ties. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi while saying that China and India were each other’s largest neighbors, looked for partnership between the two countries can contribute to each other’s success.
“A cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and elephant is the only right choice for both sides. As the two largest developing countries, China and India have a shared task to accelerate our countries development and revitalization,” Wang Yi had said at a press conference on the sidelines of National People’s Congress in March this year.
The imagined optics of the dragon-elephant dance can turn into a reality. The curtains can be lifted during this visit. And, as far as Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh are concerned, it is expected that China, despite being an ironclad friend of Pakistan, will take a realistic stand on the issues that had put the two countries at odds with each other.
Indo-China relations should not be made captive to Beijing-Islamabad friendship. The friendship between the two should not deem others as adversaries.
China as a larger neighbor and second largest economy in the world has few responsibilities towards India.
First, the standoff situation might have ended at the LAC in eastern Ladakh, but a firm beginning should be made to ensure permanent peace and tranquility. This approach should be guided by extra pragmatism in view of the realities of geopolitics. Galwan clashes of June 15/16 did no good to either of the sides. Apart from the contentious narratives that the incident, in which India lost 20 soldiers, generated, it also made the world to look with extreme concern the situation on Indo-China borderline. China should appreciate that India firmly rejected the third-party mediation offer. Instead, Delhi continued with its diplomacy and dialogue approach that yielded results a little over four years. That approach is required in settling the boundary issue with a special focus on eastern Ladakh.
Second, China did not come out with any official statement on India suspending the Indus Waters Treaty on April 23rd, a day after the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed. Beijing has its own ways of doing things without explicit official statements. That it is concerned over the plight of Pakistan in the wake of this step of India is an understatement. It will do everything to help it out without offering a comment on the treaty that withstood wars and other bad patches between India and Pakistan. It has chosen its side. India will have to work hard to make China understand that blood-spilling terror attacks will have its consequences. China has started fortifying the water resources for Pakistan. At the same time, it is constructing huge dams to hurt India.
Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu described world’s largest dam project on the Yarlung Tsangooo River, the Tibetan name for the river Brahmaputra as “ticking water bomb.” It may not impact India’s moves on IWT but the intention to damage India cannot be overlooked. Therefore, this issue needs to be put on front burner.
Third, India will have to make it clear to Beijing that it would not tolerate any interference in Kashmir. The perceptions and narratives may differ but that should not be made as a case for sneaky temperament.
If there is attempt to resolve these issues, the dance of dragon and elephant is possible.
