Want to read in a your own language?

Sunday, May 26, 2013

India and China : No Love lost between two Asian powerhouses!

Sorry guys for being away from blogging for a while but seriously got caught into some other stuff.Finally got a free weekend and thought about using it on my 4th love(Won't tell you about the first three; as if you guys care about it :P) .
This blog is about the binary relationships between two of the potential world powers : India and China.China is the second largest economy in the world and grew by about 7.5% in 2012. India on the other hand is the 4th largest economy and grew by about 6% in 2012. These numbers won't astound someone who is not aware of the jeopardy the Euro Zone and other World Economies are in. Recently published figures indicate that barring Germany almost the entire core EuroZone is in recession; complement that with the problems in US and other superpowers. 

“India


India and China are two of the world’s oldest civilizations and have had cultural as well as economic relationships since ages.Buddhism grew from India to almost the entire East Asia.Still under the colonial rule of the British, India along with China played a significant role in nullifying Japan during the Second World War .The bilateral relations went sour in 1950 when India was among the first countries to break relations with the Republic of China on the Taiwan issue and acknowledge the People's Republic of China.
Border disputes between the two countries have resulted in three notable historical events— the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the Chola incident in 1967, and the 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish.You may want to google each one of those yourselves as the information could be a bit overwhelming here.Having said that, in 2008 China emerged as the largest trading partner of India and the two countries have also attempted to extend their strategic and military relations.Having said that as well , pardon me for my style of writing, the huge infrastructure development in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir by China along with a host of border infringements haven't gone too well with the Indian government.Additionally,China's strong relationships with Pakistan aren't too comforting for the government.Pakistan, in 2012 ,emerged as the highest traditional weapons importer from China.
The Border disputes that surfaced in 1962 resulted in a short border war between the People's Republic of China and India on 20 October 1962.Clearly, the Indian army was not adequately prepared for such transgression and had lost territorial ground until a unilateral ceasefire was declared and the Chinese Army retreated .There are a number of theories put forward to explain the Chinese aggression. One of such theories points to a conspiracy that took place in the British era. A Mcmahon Line was agreed upon between the British and the Tibetans in the early 1900's but it was not until 1930s that it started showing in the region maps. China opposed to such a claim since they were never involved in such territorial negotiations and questioned the sovereignty of the the Tibetans to strike such a deal. The Mcmahon Line thus played a pivotal role leading to the Sino-Indian war.
Relations between the PRC and India further deteriorated in the early 1970s as Sino-Pakistani relations improved and Sino-Soviet relations worsened. The PRC had backed Pakistan in its 1965 war with India. Between 1967 and 1971, an all-weather road was built across territory claimed by India, linking PRC's Region with Pakistan; India could do no more than protest, however 1971 war with Pakistan, India won a landslide victory.
21st Century saw tensions easing up between the two nations with Indian President K. R. Narayanan's visit to China in 2000.In 2002, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji reciprocated by visiting India, with a focus on economic issues. 2003 ushered in a marked improvement in Sino-Indian relations following Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's landmark June 2003 visit to China. China officially recognized Indian sovereignty over Sikkim as the two nations moved toward resolving their border disputes.Things looked to have settled since then until very recently a platoon of Chinese soldiers trooped about 20 km into the Indian territory.This resulted in a 20 day standoff between the two nations after which finally the soldiers retreated.The transgression was uncalled for and there is hardly any explanation to what prompted such an act from the Chinese when things were starting to look a bit less gloomy.
The newly appointed Chinese premier seems to have a more benign outlook and has already spoken of the importance of strategic bilateral relations with India. His visit to India before Pakistan already raised a few eyebrows.
Let us just hope it gets better from here on and the two nations work with each other to realise their true potential.


Images courtesy Google images.
Visit blogadda.com to discover Indian blogs WriteUp Cafe - Together we Write