A new plateau 

A new plateau 

Context

In more ways than one, 2017 marked a turning point in India-China relations. If it began with India taking a strong stance against China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), it ended with China tightening its grip on South Asia. And in between was the Doklam stand-off which underscored the challenges in this bilateral relationship in ways that few would have anticipated in recent years.

A flash point

Beijing is peeved at what it sees as New Delhi’s intransigence (refusal to change one’s views or to agree about something) on the BRI as India is perhaps the only major power frontally challenging China’s attempt to redraw the global economic landscape. And this challenge is framed around a principle which China holds very dear: the foundational principle of “sovereignty”

Sovereignty hawks

After all, the basis of the India-China partnership at one point was premised on them being the so-called “sovereignty hawks” in the global order. This was reiterated in platforms such as the Russia-India-China trilateral and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

Not attending BRI

India used this to counter the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, an important element of the BRI, even at the cost of getting regionally and globally isolated when it decided not to attend the BRI summit in May 2017

Disregarding Indian concerns on sovereignty

India was clear that China cannot expect to evolve a India-China global partnership on the basis of sovereignty-related concerns vis-à-vis the West and at the same time disregard Indian concerns on sovereignty with impunity at the bilateral level.

China winning in the Indian neighborhood

As the year came to an end, China’s engagement in India’s neighbourhood seemed to be growing with the Left Alliance winning in Nepal and the signing of a Free Trade Agreement between China and the Maldives

China’s relationship with Pakistan has become stronger with Beijing now openly batting for Islamabad, whether it is in scuttling Indian attempts to get Pakistan-based terror outfits banned by the United Nations Security Council or preventing India from joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

India pushing back globally: The Quad

India is pushing back in the wider Indo-Pacific

In November, on the margins of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Manila, India participated in the first formal official-level discussions of the ‘Quad’, the quadrilateral formation that also includes Japan, the U.S., and Australia.

New realities

As the two nations look to repair the damage done to their bilateral ties over the last few years, mere rhetoric of the past is unlikely to work

Need to find common ground

They need to find common ground to work seriously so that some tangible outcomes can be achieved

Both countries challenge each other

For India, China’s rise as a great power in its own vicinity presents a challenge that it has not encountered in the past. Beijing, for its part, is facing a New Delhi which, unlike before, is willing to challenge China

Doklam stand off

The Doklam crisis was as much about China asserting itself vis-à-vis India as it was about New Delhi’s determination not to cede any more ground to China.

Conclusion

Old formulations and principles seem to have outlived their usefulness. Otherwise, as China continues to strengthen its forces in Doklam and India seems determined to resist it, another Doklam-like episode may be just around the corner.