The devil you know: Old foes India & China strengthen ties as America proves too unreliable

Regarding this two subcontinental countries we should remember first that in their 13 milliion square kilometers, China and India together possess a population of more than 2,600 million people which represents one third of the world population. They also have a 4,000 km long border which in some cases has become the theater of armed confrontations. Here we reproduce an analysis of the present situation connsidering the worldwide geopolitical unstability and uncertainty (author: Darius Shahtahmasebi)

"China and India have had a rocky relationship for years and are continuing to find areas of dispute. However, the two countries have managed to end the year on an amicable high-note, proving that rival nations can cooperate.

Together, China and India account for just under 3 billion of the world’s total population. The decisions that the leaders of these two countries make is therefore relevant for approximately a third of the global population. Whether or not these two regional players are on a path to peace or war is something the western mainstream media should pay its undivided attention to.

While outrageously underreported in the corporate media, India and China  experienced a brief skirmish on he Indo-Tibetan border in August last year. Video footage of the skirmishes shows soldiers kicking, punching and throwing stones at each other on the border, which appeared to symbolize a potential escalation between the two Asian powers. The two nations maintain a tense border dispute with hundreds of soldiers stationed just meters apart.

India has also been rattled by China’s overt support and rising participation in Pakistan. India remains unnerved by the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of China’s Silk Road Project Reports have also emerged that China has been considering establishing its own naval bases in Pakistan, even though both Pakistan and China have denied such a claim.

China has only one overseas military base, currently in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. In other words, China’s only overseas military base puts China’s logistical military hubs in the Indian ocean, a constant source of tension for India.

However, despite this, no such escalation has appeared to eventuate since the skirmishes in August. In fact, China and India have both taken steps to reduce tensions and may have found a middle path to pursue their conflicting interests. As explained further below, these conflicting interests are not to be taken lightly.

Just recently, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi took a four-day visit to India to meet high-level Indian officials, including India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. It should be noted that India is China’s largest trading partner, with a trade deficit in favor of China by about $63 billion during 2017-2018.

China and India have had a rocky relationship for years and are continuing to find areas of dispute. However, the two countries have managed to end the year on an amicable high-note, proving that rival nations can cooperate.

Together, China and India account for just under 3 billion of the world’s total population. The decisions that the leaders of these two countries make is therefore relevant for approximately a third of the global population. Whether or not these two regional players are on a path to peace or war is something the western mainstream media should pay its undivided attention to.

While outrageously underreported in the corporate media, India and China experienced a brief skirmish on the Indo-Tibetan border in August last year. Video footage of the skirmishes shows soldiers kicking, punching and throwing stones at each other on the border, which appeared to symbolize a potential escalation between the two Asian powers. The two nations maintain a tense border dispute with hundreds of soldiers stationed just meters apart.

India has also been rattled by China’s overt support and rising participation in Pakistan. India remains unnerved by the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of China’s Silk Road Project. Reports have also emerged that China has been considering establishing its own naval bases in Pakistan, even though both Pakistan and China have denied such a claim.

China has only one overseas military base, currently in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. In other words, China’s only overseas military base puts China’s logistical military hubs in the Indian ocean, a constant source of tension for India.

However, despite this, no such escalation has appeared to eventuate since the skirmishes in August. In fact, China and India have both taken steps to reduce tensions and may have found a middle path to pursue their conflicting interests. As explained further below, these conflicting interests are not to be taken lightly.

Just recently, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi took a four-day visit to India to meet high-level Indian officials, including India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. It should be noted that India is China’s largest trading partner, with a trade deficit in favor of China by about $63 billion during 2017-2018.

Altogether, Chinese President Xi Jinping and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi have met four times this year alone; and India’s defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, have also met three times this year. During these meetings, China has agreed to some concessions, including an agreement to increase its imports of Indian rice, sugar, rapeseed oil and pharmaceuticals.

It is also worth noting that China and India also just completed a joint anti-terrorism military exercise in the Chengdu area of China.

Furthermore, there are some suggestions that China and India may begin working closer together on the issue of Afghanistan as well. Given the Trump administration’s surprise announcement that it will withdraw thousands of troops from the war-torn country, this partnership between China and India may become a distinct possibility.

This is not to say that India does not maintain its wariness of China’s expanding influence in the region.

According to a recent paper entitled “From Denial to Punishment: The Security Dilemma and Changes in India’s Military Strategy Towards China” in Asian Security by Anit Mukherjee and Yogesh Joshi the power imbalance between India and China is no longer manageable. China has rapidly developed its infrastructure, modernized its military and taken a more aggressive stance at the border (as seen in the skirmishes last year), leading India to adopt some strategies of its own. The result is that India will embrace a more active and offensive posture, as opposed to a defensive one.

At the beginning of December, Indian media reported that India was taking steps to counter China’s “strategic footprint” in the Indian Ocean. Specifically, it has approved the construction of 56 new warships and six submarines for its navy over the next decade. One of the submarines will reportedly be from Project-75I, a $US12 billion initiative to “acquire advanced subs equipped with air-independent-propulsion systems that allow non-nuclear subs to operate without atmospheric oxygen, replacing or augmenting diesel-electric systems,” according to Business Insider.

Altogether, Chinese President Xi Jinping and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi have met four times this year alone; and India’s defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe, have also met three times this year. During these meetings, China has agreed to some concessions, including an agreement to increase its imports of Indian rice, sugar, rapeseed oil and pharmaceuticals.

It is also worth noting that China and India also just completed a joint anti-terrorism military exercise in the Chengdu area of China.

Furthermore, there are some suggestionsthat China and India may begin working closer together on the issue of Afghanistan as well. Given the Trump administration’s surprise announcement that it will withdraw thousands of troops from the war-torn country, this partnership between China and India may become a distinct possibility.

This is not to say that India does not maintain its wariness of China’s expanding influence in the region.

According to a recent paper entitled “From Denial to Punishment: The Security Dilemma and Changes in India’s Military Strategy Towards China” in Asian Security by Anit Mukherjee and Yogesh Joshi the power imbalance between India and China is no longer manageable. China has rapidly developed its infrastructure, modernized its military and taken a more aggressive stance at the border (as seen in the skirmishes last year), leading India to adopt some strategies of its own. The result is that India will embrace a more active and offensive posture, as opposed to a defensive one.

At the beginning of December, Indian media reported that India was taking steps to counter China’s “strategic footprint” in the Indian Ocean. Specifically, it has approved the construction of 56 new warships and six submarines for its navy over the next decade. One of the submarines will reportedly be from Project-75I, a $US12 billion initiative to “acqiore advanced subs equippedequipped with air-independent-propulsion systems that allow non-nuclear subs to operate without atmospheric oxygen, replacing or augmenting diesel-electric systems,” according to Business Insider."

Author:

Darius Shahtahmasebi 

Reproduced from:

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/447544-india-china-relations-rivals/