New Delhi, December 23: The India-China tango at the Copenhagen climate meet may pave the way for a cessation of hostilities between the two Asian giants who have been locked in a war of words over Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir for several months.
At Friday’s breakfast meeting with prime minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the summit, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao surprised the Indian side by holding out the proverbial white flag. Not only were his formulations conciliatory, Wen also displayed a warmth that was missing in recent bilateral interactions, said a senior official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The most significant part of the interaction was Wen’s reference to the Sino-American joint statement issued during US president Barack Obama’s trip to Beijing last month. The statement had created a furore here because of an offending paragraph that sought to squeeze China into the South Asia paradigm as a policeman for Indo-Pak tension.
Acknowledging that the joint communique had created “misgivings” in India, Wen gave a categorical assurance that China had no intention of “interfering” in Indo-Pak relations or in South Asia. The PM quickly picked up the thread and emphasised the need to resolve all outstanding issues between India and China, including the boundary question. He also stressed on the importance of maintaining “peace and tranquillity” along the borders.
Although the PM did not touch on specific pinpricks like Chinese incursions into Indian territory, the context was clear. And Wen nodded his agreement. The Chinese premier’s assurances were verbal but the meeting was minuted and everything that was said is now part of official record.
Indian diplomats are stunned by the way China has turned. Throughout the difficult and dramatic negotiations in Copenhagen, the Chinese team not only sought out its Indian counterparts at every stage, it leaned heavily on them to tackle tough-talking negotiators from the developed countries, especially the Americans.
According to one Indian negotiator, the Chinese displayed a vulnerability that is not normally associated with them and it was clear to all those attending the meet that China is not yet ready to take on the US single-handedly. “It needs the protective shield of the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) grouping. And of all the countries in this bloc, it seemed to trust India the most,” he said.
While the approach is cautious, the government believes that Copenhagen has opened a window for India to leverage its new-found bonhomie with China to restore the bilateral equilibrium that had virtually vanished after months of bitter exchanges.
Climate change negotiations are far from over and the route to Mexico (where the next big meet will be held at the end of 2010) ahead will probably be rougher than the road to Copenhagen. China will continue to need India’s help to meet the challenges ahead as the west, particularly the US, tried to corner it into making deep emission cuts to slow down its development. “It presents us with an opportunity to put the relationship back on track,” said a senior official.
–Agencies–