Has the Chinese wall crumbled?

China is slowly getting round to view India as a major potential partner, not an adversary

Pranay Sharma Delhi

Chinese leaders are sticklers for diplomatic convention and protocol. When they break away from that norm, they have a good reason for it. The official visit by the leader of a country to China usually has a state banquet or an official lunch to mark the occassion. Private dinners are kept for very special guests and friends. Premier Wen Jia Bao's decision to host one for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 13 in Beijing, the night before the two sides began their official engagement, could be described as a departure from the norm.

Strictly speaking, Wen is number three in the Chinese pecking order. He comes after President Hu Jin Tao and the People's Congress (Parliament) —Chairman Wu Bang Guo. The decision to host the dinner for Singh, therefore, must have been a collective decision of the Chinese leadership.

But why is China trying to break from protocol to show such a special gesture to India?

Simply put, China wants to woo India and make it clear that in the Chinese scheme of things New Delhi figures very prominently. It is a clear signal to India that Beijing considers it to be a close partner and not a threat or an adversary. It needs India's support and active participation in building a 'harmonious society' in Asia and elsewhere in the world. Wen's private dinner was the right occasion for the two leaders to discuss the issues at hand, informally, and strike the right chord.

For the past decade or so, the leadership in China has decided that if it has to emerge as a major world power, it needs to build a strong economy. But a strong economy can only flourish if the situation within and outside China remains peaceful. A stable neighbourhood and strong ties with the countries in it therefore becomes essential.

China has managed to establish peace in the north with its strong ties with Russia. It has stable relations with the central Asian republics through its Shanghai Cooperation Organisation initiative. It has good relations in the east with Korea and Japan, despite the minor hiccups in the relationship with the latter. In the south-east, it has managed to strengthen its relations with the major countries with the 'Asean plus Three' initiatives. The only worry for China has been in the south-west and because of the uncertainty in its relations with India.

Manmohan Singh's three-day visit to China, from January 13 to 15, should be seen in that backdrop. But where does China fit in the Indian scheme of things?

It would be an understatement to say that China is not only India's biggest neighbour but also one of the major powers in the world today. From their bonhomie in the early 1950s, to the deterioration in relations leading to a war in 1962 on the boundary dispute, Sino-India ties have gone through several 'ups' and 'downs' in the past decades.

The nuclear tests India conducted in May 1998 and the subsequent upswing in Indo-US ties has brought China back firmly on the radar of the Indian foreign policy establishment. One section that continues to be worried about China's intentions has been pushing firmly for closer relations between New Delhi and Washington. It believes that a strong strategic partnership between the two countries is the only answer to cap China's growing clout in Asia. But there are others in the establishment who are keen to develop Sino-Indian ties at the same time as New Delhi strengthens its relations with the US. They argue that in India's quest for a prominent place at the international stage, it would be essential for it to have strong ties with all the major powers in the world, including China.