Opening Remarks by Dr Arvind Gupta, Director VIF

Excellency, Mr Ruan Zongze, Vice President of China Institute of International Studies

On behalf of VIF and my own behalf I would like to welcome you and your collogues for this interaction on ‘Indian China Relations in the New Era’ with the VIF scholars and strategic affairs experts. The VIF is a non –partisan, independent think tank dedicated to the study and research on issues on foreign policy, security, culture and civilisation. We have ongoing partnership with a number of Chinese think tanks and we welcome your visit. It will contribute to enhancement of mutual understanding on issues of key concerns for both sides.

As we speak, External Affairs Minister of India, Smt Sushma Swaraj has had a productive meeting with Mr Wang Yi, State Counselor, in Beijing. An “Informal Summit” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping has been planned in the next few days. Prime Minister Modi will also be visiting Beijing again in June for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit meeting. It is hoped that the increased tempo of high level exchanges and summit meeting will strengthen the Sino-Indian relations, build mutual trust and understanding and contribute to global and regional peace and stability.

Excellency, there was considerable turbulence in bilateral relations in 2017. The unfortunate incident at Doklam last year has cast a shadow on the bilateral relations and introduced uncertainty regarding future trajectory. It is hoped that as a result of the forthcoming high level meeting, the volatility in bilateral relation can be avoided.

We need to reflect why there is such unpredictability about our bilateral ties. The bilateral relations have grown but uncertainties remains. There is need for candid discussion amongst the think tank community to identify the structural issues which continue to generate mistrust. Despite numerous rounds of discussions, the boundary question, remains unresolved. An early resolution of the boundary issue will help realise the full potential of bilateral ties.

The building of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) through the Indian territory of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) causes deep concern in India. There are also misgiving in India about China’s Belt and Road Initiative which is perceived as a project motivated by China’s global ambitions. We are also unable to appreciate why China continues to exercise a technical hold on the designation of Mehsud Azhar as a global terrorist as per the UN norms. This only encourages Pakistan to continue to support terrorism. The public opinion in India is also concern that China is blocking India’s membership of the Nuclear Supplier Group ignoring the merit of India’s application and linking up with that of Pakistan.

Excellency, there is a lot of potential in Sino-India relation. However, it is essential that the structural problems in our relationship should be identified and resolved in the spirit of mutual understanding and benefit.

We look forward to fruitful interaction among experts today.

Thank You.