Himalayan Issues Offer Path Forward As Chinese And Indian Leaders Meet buddhistdoor.net

Chinese President Xi Jinping is in India this afternoon to meet with Indian PM Narendra Modi in Chennai. The informal summit will last until Saturday. Both Chinese and Indian media, in anticipation of this second informal meeting between the leaders of Asia’s two largest economies, have stressed that present differences should not impede a cooperative partnership that can be sustained into the future.

2017 saw Sino-Indian relations deteriorate over the Doklam standoff in Bhutan from June to August, while various territorial and political disputes in the Himalayan region remain the focal sticking point for China and India. However, dialogue and rapprochement has gathered pace steadily since the resolution of that incident. Thursday, a China Daily editorial noted: “Xi’s meeting with Modi in the southern Indian city of Chennai on Friday and Saturday is expected to focus more on the two countries’ historical and present differences, and how to move beyond them to realize their cooperation potential.” (China Daily)

After their afternoon meeting, Xi and Modi will visit the nearby scenic town and heritage site of Mamallapuram, which has a long history of trading and cultural connections with China. Archeological excavations have unearthed Chinese coins dating back to as early as two millennia ago. (India Today) The symbolism of the site has not been lost on the Global Times, which noted: “In the seventh century, during the heyday of the Pallava Dynasty, Xuanzang, a famous monk hailing from the Tang Dynasty (618–907), visited the capital of the Pallavas, which was not far from Mamallapuram.” (Global Times)

Chinese media reflected a consensus among the Chinese political leadership that while the Modi government erred in its bifurcation of Buddhist-majority Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir, Chinese influence in South Asia would remain deficient without a positive relationship with India: “This not only demonstrates China’s respect for India’s great power status but also indicates that China is well aware that territorial and border disputes can only be resolved through fair negotiations rather than unilateral actions or military threats,” noted the Global Times, while observing that nationalist sentiment was rising and that India could not rely on the United States due to its unpredictable approach to trade wars and tariffs.