Defense minister to meet Indian leaders
Four-day tour to rebuild ties damaged by Doklam standoff: experts
A trip by China’s defense minister to India, the first since last year’s Doklam standoff, was hailed by Chinese analysts on Tuesday as a landmark trip for the recovery of military ties between the two countries.
At the invitation of Indian Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Wei Fenghe, also a Chinese State Councilor, will pay an official goodwill visit to India from Tuesday to Friday, according to a statement released by China’s Ministry of National Defense on Monday.
Wei will meet leaders of India and the Indian army, exchange views on the ties between the two countries and their militaries as well as issues of common concern, the statement said.
The visit will implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries.
A single visit cannot solve all the problems, Ye Hailin, an international relations research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
“China-India relations are very complicated,” Ye said.
The two countries should build mutual trust with more dialogue and communications during Wei’s visit, he said.
Wei will meet Sitharaman and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India-based news website oneindia.com reported on Monday. The two sides will discuss ways of finding a permanent solution to the Doklam situation.
“The visit marks the comprehensive recovery of ties between China and India after the Doklam standoff last year,” Qian Feng, a research fellow at the National Strategy Institute of Tsinghua University based in Beijing, told the Global Times.
The establishment of a mutual military trust mechanism is likely to be an important topic at the talks, Qian noted.
“There will be talks on the concrete problems the two militaries face,” Qian said. “The two sides will expand cooperation and manage disputes so that the overall situation between the two countries will not be affected before the border issue is fully resolved.”
There may also be new progress in topics like high-level visits and joint military exercises.
Both sides are willing to establish a military hotline to boost communication and avoid potential misunderstandings and tensions along the border, according to Qian.
Technical issues were the most likely reason for a hotline not being established, he said.
In June last year, more than 270 armed Indian troops with two bulldozers crossed the border into Doklam, China’s sovereign territory, to obstruct Chinese construction of infrastructure.
After a months-long military standoff, India withdrew its border personnel in August, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
China’s Defense Minister Wei Fenghe is embarking on a four-day visit to New Delhi Tuesday. This is an important visit to further improve SinoIndian relations. Regular communication between military leaders of the two countries is one of the foundations of mutual political trust.
China and India are wise to downplay tensions and work toward the goal of leaving the Doklam standoff behind and improving all-round ties.
For a long time, military relations often became the most sensitive spot between the two sides.
For China and India, who have fought a war over territorial disputes, the scars left on bilateral ties are deep. The Doklam standoff, which set bilateral ties in a state of disrepair, deepened distrust. How to restore mutual trust is the big question.
Mutual military trust is particularly vital to mend damaged bilateral ties. It will help stabilize bilateral ties and solve border standoffs and manage border risks. Both China and India have made great efforts to enhance bilateral military trust.
The meeting between the two defense ministers will help create conditions for the settlement of border disputes, and will also help the two sides explore long-term military communication and conflict-control mechanisms in the border areas. This is the right direction for China and India to finally resolve the border issue through political channels.
Amid the Doklam standoff, some Indian journalists were invited by China’s defense ministry to visit and had face-to-face dialogue with senior officers of the People’s Liberation Army. In July, a Chinese military delegation visited India to promote strategic trust and cooperation between the two armies, another sign of improving bilateral ties.
It is worth noting that exactly one day before the visit of China’s defense chief, India and Japan agreed to begin talks on a pact that would allow them to share defense capabilities and supplies including fuel and ammunition. They also decided to expand defense ties and hold their first-ever joint army exercise later this year. Japanese media outlets indicated that the raison d’être of such intimacy between New Delhi and Tokyo is to counter a rising China.
As a country that promotes multilateralism and encourages cooperation, China does not view cooperation between India and Japan narrowly. India is a regional power, and of course it needs to expand and develop military cooperation with neighboring countries. China is willing to see India’s efforts in promoting regional security and stability through cooperation with its neighbors and strategic partners.
We believe that the Japanese media’s analysis will not become the policy choice of the Indian government. Any efforts to form an alliance to thwart China’s rise in the Asia-Pacific will be futile.