India - China: No Signs of A Rapprochement
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
The prospect that Chinese President Xi Jinping might visit Delhi in September for the G20 summit, writes The Indian Express “has triggered unreasonable hopes for a breakthrough in bilateral relations. Optimists view Xi’s potential presence in Delhi…. as an opportunity to end the current stalemate. The optimism soared after last week’s meeting between National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and the top Chinese diplomat, Wang Yi, in Johannesburg on the margins of a BRICS forum. The reference in the Chinese statement issued after the meeting to the ‘Bali Consensus’ between Modi and Xi on the need to ‘stabilise bilateral relations’ and the confirmation by the South Block of parts of the conversation not disclosed earlier has triggered much excitement in Delhi.”
This enthusiasm however, “should be tempered by the fact that Modi and Xi barely chatted for a couple of minutes at the G20 dinner table in Bali, Indonesia, last November. Any claim that the two leaders agreed to settle the issues in the Ladakh frontier quickly reflects the wishful thinking that has been the hallmark of India’s traditional approach to China…..”
For those who can’t see the structural crisis in bilateral relations, The Indian Express writes “there was a fresh reminder last week from the ‘stapled visas’ the Beijing issued to Indian athletes from Arunachal Pradesh participating in World University Games in Chengdu, China. Beijing uses the stapled visas to assert its territorial claim over Arunachal Pradesh. Territorial sovereignty is at the heart of multiple disputes between Delhi and Beijing……”
