Wen-Singh meet must break new ground
The Hindu
B.S. Raghavan / December 15, 2010

The three-day visit of the Chinese Premier, Mr Wen Jiabao, to India beginning today has put to rest the speculation that had been rife about a possible cancellation as a sign of umbrage taken by China over India's presence at the ceremony at Oslo to award the Nobel prize to the Chinese dissident, Liu Xiabo, who has been sentenced to 11 years in Chinese prison on a charge of ‘incitement of subversion to state power'.

Promoting progress

The Chinese leadership has been wise to delink diplomacy from ideology. It must have figured out for itself that on a highly touchy matter that would have turned the spotlight on China's rigid and regimented denial of political liberties, it would never have been able to live down the ignominy of taking on India, the exemplar-cum-superstar of parliamentary democracy in Asia, which truly, if tumultuously, practices Mao Zedong's dictum (long forgotten in his native land): “Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting progress…”

If only our mandarins in the External Affairs Ministry were endowed with imagination and an impish sense, they would have driven the point home by making Mr Wen address the joint session of both Houses of Parliament or at least seating him in the Speaker's gallery to watch the day's proceedings!

That would have helped him see how safe India was despite having hundred Liu Xiabo's in action and predisposed him to permit a greater degree of political liberalisation in his own country!

No doubt, the Wen Jiabao-Manmohan Singh confabulations, as is invariably the custom when top leaders of two countries get together, will cover matters of bilateral interest as well as issues of global importance, and come out with a joint statement embodying their viewpoints.

There is every chance that it will read exactly like statements issued at the end of ten such meetings between Mr Wen and Mr Singh held earlier, with a liberal sprinkling of words such as ‘strategic', ‘partnership', ‘cooperation' and the like.

Bland and trite stuff

Despite the Special Representatives of the two countries discussing the border question ‘with a sense of urgency' for over 10 years, it is still hanging fire. Despite India repeatedly asking China to show sensitivity in relation to India's core interests, just as it has been demanding the whole world to do with reference to the peremptory stipulation of its core interests, China's reaction is one of utter lack of concern.

It has been behaving in a self-centred fashion by flaring up over the Dalai Lama, Arunachal Pradesh, Nobel Prize for Liu Xiabo, and so on, and indulging in provocative actions such as issuing stapled visas to residents of Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, blackballing the high-ranking leader of India's team for joint defence talks, building up the nuclear arsenal of the wobbly State of Pakistan which may let it fall like a ripe plum into terrorists' hands, and generally treating India as anything but a valued strategic partner.

So, what's it on the political and diplomatic front that the forthcoming visit is going to achieve that will be new or different? The people of India are fed up with the same bland and trite stuff and they cannot take any more of it. They would rather that the time, energy and money are not wasted on these tamashas. The leaders of both countries must this time show evidence of coming to grips with at least three issues of vital importance to India and have it reflected in their joint statement.

First, on the border question, the never-ending charade of Special Representatives repeating themselves ad nauseum must stop. The two leaders must take the bull by the horns at their level and take the dispute to a resolution.

Second, China should agree to consult India before taking any initiatives vis-à-vis Pakistan. Third, the practice of dictating do's and don'ts to India and the world must cease. Period.