Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in Beijing. Admittedly, the panchsheel doctrine enunciated by Jawaharlal Nehru at the Bandung Conference in 1954 has not worked out. Border disputes have cast their shadow. But Singh went to China with a package of goodwill that intends to reaffirm the five principles of peaceful coexistence. For the first time in 59 years, an Indian Prime Minister has gone to China for bilateral summit talks. The Chinese Premier was in India earlier this year. Singh met his counterpart, Li Kequiang. The talks were informed by the understanding that peace along the LoAC is essential to ensure India’s domestic economic growth. The two nations signed a Border Agreement for Defence Cooperation to marginalize the threat in Ladakh. The number of border patrol meetings will increase and contact between director generals of communications of the two countries will be stepped up. But the visa liberalization agreement was stalled. But person to person contact will be improved. The Indo-US nuclear energy deals and talks on nuclear reactors in Moscow came up for discussion.
However, the asylum given to the Dalai Lama has soured relations between the neighours since 1957. Diplomatic relations were restored only in 1979 and Rajiv Gandhi ushered in a new era shaking hands with Deng Xiaoping. The border tension in April will figure in the talks but stressed will be laid on greater investment including setting up of special Chinese industrial zones in UP, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Trade is to go up narrowing India’s deficit. A number of MOUs were signed on river dams. No assurance was however given on the Brahamaputra 2014 will be celebrated as a year of friendship marking the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference. Foreign ministry officials in New Delhi have indicated that the border hostilities of 1962 are now more or less forgotten. All this, however, may be soft- soaping the new Chinese government by the UPA on the eve of the general elections in India next year.
