China, India discuss crisis control
Positive sign after June’s Doklam standoff soured ties
Managing a crisis from a potential border conflict will top the agenda of forthcoming talks between China and India and the talks are a positive sign after June’s Doklam standoff soured bilateral ties, experts said Thursday.
India is preparing to host China’s special representative in Delhi for talks over the border dispute, with the Chinese delegation led by State Councilor and special representative Yang Jiechi, India’s Economic Times reported Thursday.
India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Kumar Doval, who is also the special representative for talks with China, will lead the Indian team for the 20th round of border talks, according to the India’s Economic Times report.
The Chinese side has yet to make an official announcement about the talks as of press time. The last round of border talks was held in April 2016 in Beijing, with Yang and Doval leading each side’s delegation.
The news on the highestlevel border talks between China and India is a very positive sign that the two countries are committed to resolving problems through dialogue instead of confrontation, Qian Feng, an expert at the Chinese Association for South Asian Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday.
“Resolving the border disputes has stagnated and the Doklam standoff has led to a rethinking on the ties of the two countries, which will be reflected in the talks,” Qian said.
The talks, coming months after the standoff, will put managing a crisis on the top agenda as future disputes remain possible, and both sides need to manage the disputes and avoid confrontation, Qian added.
India should also be more realistic and show more sincerity in maintaining the fragile ties that returned to normal after the BRICS Summit in September, experts said.
If India refuses to make a deal on the issues and continues to send senior officials to the disputed border, the talks will not yield tangible results, Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of International Relations, told the Global Times on Thursday.
Indian Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited the South Tibet area (which India calls Arunachal Pradesh) to inspect defense preparedness, Indian news agency PTI reported on Monday.
Meanwhile, the US and Japan are stepping up their efforts to cozy up to India as a balance to China, which gives India more “confidence” to play tricks behind China’s back on the border issue, Hu told the Global Times on Thursday.
However, the US is merely fooling India and its real intention is to increase weapons sales to the country, and India should be more realistic in that China will not lose if a military conflict erupts after another border dispute, Hu noted.