India China Standoff: Will India-China relationship change forever?

India-China relationship is changing due to prolong border standoff.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar has recently said India faces a “very complicated challenge” from China, and the Narendra Modi government has taken steps to ensure no attempts are made to change the status quo in the border areas unilaterally. This challenge was very visible in border areas in the last three years (Since May 2020 Galwan clash). Both the countries have to find an equilibrium in relationship, but it cannot be on the terms of the other party. If peace and tranquillity between the two nations is disturbed, their relationship will not remain unaffected, as per EAM while delivering a talk on ‘Modi’s India: A Rising Power’ at the Anant National University, Gujarat in May 2023.

What has changed in Modi’s India with respect to China? Almost everything. When Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi visited China in 1988, it was visit of Indian PM after decades. Last time PM Nehru visited China and Indira Gandhi skipped any China visit. Rajiv Gandhi and Chinese Premier Li Peng signed border peace agreement so that diplomatic relations between the two giants are improved. The agreement stated ‘equal security’ at border which is not well demarcated and more focus on developing trade and business relationship while keeping border issue at bay. Subsequently, two more border management agreements were signed in 1990s regarding operational part of border management.

China being bigger economy benefited more from trade and business development between the two countries. Huge Chinese export to India created massive trade imbalance while Indian export to China was deliberately restricted under complex tariff and non-tariff barrier. India managed to export only basic commodities like iron ore, cotton bales etc.

The agreements to keep border issues at bay also benefitted China by not showing any urgency to demarcate the border after many rounds of talks which lasted over many decades. China enjoyed ‘salami slicing’ land grabbing during these decades. Now, Modi government has changed that rule after Doklam standoff in 2017 and Galwan clash in 2020. India now insists highest focus on border peace, stability and demarcation. Any forceful change in border by China will have impact on overall relations including trade. This has hardened Chinese aggression.

In 9 years since PM Modi came to power, there is complete change in China as how they see their neighbour India. In 2014, India was irrelevant, insignificant, backward, poor, chaotic etc. but today in 2023, more Chinese are concerned by India’s rise.

More Chinese now regard India as a security threat

The Quad countries are today discussing maritime collaboration, infrastructure connectivity, 5G and vaccines, among other issues. India is also interacting with a group of countries to its West, such as Israel, United States and United Arab Emirates, Jaishankar said. Under PM Modi, we are not thinking just of tomorrow, we are not even thinking of the next term. We are thinking really beyond. And in many ways, without exaggerations, we are today laying the foundation of what is the global footprint. The rise of India has a very special significance in the world as the only comparable rise was that of China, as per EAM Jaishankar while delivering talk on ‘Modi’s India: A Rising Power’ at the Anant National University.

India’s diplomacy is changing under Modi and Jaishankar.

Picture source: Google 

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