After the completion of President Obama’s visit, the government is looking east again. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is heading to Beijing on Saturday for a three-day visit.
While the Beijing visit is timed with the 13th Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral meeting of foreign ministers, it will also be seen as an attempt to smooth ruffled feathers with the Chinese leadership, after India and the U.S. announced a joint vision statement on the Asia Pacific.
In a statement seemingly tied to the visit, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that India was keen to resolve the border issue with China, which he called a “perceptional difference” between them. “India wants a peaceful resolution of all disputes. China should come forward [for talks],” he added.
Mr. Singh’s comments, made to ITBP soldiers at a battalion camp in Kanpur on Wednesday, are in stark contrast to his more angry statements and tweets in the past few months over China’s “incursions” and “threats.” Sources confirmed to The Hindu that Ms. Swaraj will call on President Xi Jinping during her visit, and is likely to discuss Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans to travel to China later this year. In the past few days, a series of articles in Beijing’s official and other media have criticised President Obama’s visit, calling it a “trap” to promote “India and China rivalry.” The Chinese government also reacted sharply to the vision statement on the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean region that included a commitment to “safeguard maritime security and ensuring freedom of navigation and over flight throughout the region, especially in the South China Sea.”
“The Chinese leadership will certainly want to know what happened there when they meet Ms. Swaraj, and to understand the context of the Indo-U.S. statement. Hopefully, they will understand that this is a delicate diplomatic dance that needs to be played by India in a multipolar world,” said Ravi Bhoothalingam of the Institute of Chinese Studies.
Ms. Swaraj may also face a few awkward moments for President Obama’s direct attack on Russia at a press conference in Delhi, when she meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Mr. Obama had referred to Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “bullying,” and both Mr. Putin and Mr. Lavrov have made strong statements against President Obama’s comments over the past week. But government sources dismissed reports of concerns over diplomatic tensions with China or Russia, saying “in the real world there are no such concerns.”
The visit to Beijing by Ms. Swaraj had earlier been scheduled for August 28 last year, and had even been announced. It had to be put off due to the Prime Minister’s visit to Japan. A few weeks later, relations were hit by Chinese incursions during President Xi’s visit, and they have undergone a tense period since then. After the U.S. President’s visit, however, it is understood that the government is keen to take relations with China forward, especially on the border talks that have made no progress since Mr. Modi and President Xi committed more than four months ago to appointing their special representatives for the next round.
(With inputs from Sandeep Joshi)
