‘Spirit of Wuhan’ in tatters, Modi, Xi must salvage ties
■ India, China also part of several select multilateral fora
Sino-Indian ties and the “Spirit” of the informal summits at Wuhan and Mamallapuram in the past two years now lie in tatters following the latest deadly military clash between Indian and Chinese troops in the Ladakh sector. As per the strategic guidance to be given by the leaders of the two nations to their militaries as previously decided, it is perhaps now left to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping to communicate directly to prevent a total outbreak of hostilities. But the damage may run deeper, with India and China also part of several select multilateral fora such as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) apart from the trilateral RIC (Russia India China) forum. This also comes at a time when the two Asian giants were undertaking celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties. China has often fondly used the expression that the “Chinese Dragon and Indian Elephant” need to “dance” together but the two instead have now been embroiled in a deadly clash.
The decision that had considerably improved bilateral ties in the past two years was the issue of “strategic guidance” that would be given by the two leaders (PM Modi and President Xi) to their respective militaries to “build trust” between the two militaries. It had also been earlier decided by the two nations that as a confidence-building measure, there would be no more “aggressive patrolling” by the two armies on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). But all these decisions have been effectively nullified in the past few weeks and especially by the fierce clash that took place on Monday night between troops of the two armies which saw casualties.
Ties between the two nations had suffered a severe setback in 2017 due to the military face-off at Doklam in Bhutanese territory but had managed to recover in the next two years following the initiative by both PM Modi and President Xi. But the Chinese were upset when India split the erstwhile state of J&K into two Union Territories including the Ladakh UT in August last year.