Current affairs perspective
April 1, 2020 marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Republic of India and the People's Republic of China.Due to the outbreak of the 2019 coronary virus disease epidemic, the two countries have not yet held any celebration.What are the current situation, main challenges and future prospects of bilateral relations?
Under the British rule, India maintains a formal relationship with the Republic of China.In 1942, the President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai -shek and his wife Song Meiling visited India, and met Indian leaders including Gandhi.India also helps China resist Japanese aggression.In 1947, the end of British rule gave birth to two independent countries, India and Pakistan.Two years later, the People's Republic of China was established. At that time, the Republic of China government led by Chiang Kai -shek was defeated in the civil war and retreated to Taiwan.India recognized the People's Republic of China in December 1949, and the Republic of China subsequently cut off the official relationship with India.On April 1, 1950, India became the first non -communist country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.
In 1954, the Chinese State Council Premier Zhou Enlai conducted a friendly visit to India.In the same year, Indian Prime Minister Nehru became the first head of non -communist country governments to visit China.The two leaders became the five principles of the so -called peace coexistence or the main advocate of the Panchara Agreement.Both attended the Asian -African Conference (also known as the Bandung Conference) held in Indonesia in 1955, and advocated the spirit of Wandong in unity, friendship, and cooperation.The slogan of Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai reflects these two ancient and new countries, closely in the 1950s.
In 1959, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet to India after a failure uprising, and has been exiled abroad since then.In the late 1950s, the border disputes and India received the Dalai Lama, which led to a huge crack in Indian -China relations.Relations between the two countries turned sharply after a brief war broke out in 1962.So far, the two sides have not resolved the border dispute.
After the Sino -Soviet split during the Cold War, India stood on the side of the Soviet Union, while China had a close relationship with Pakistan.India and China did not recover the ambassador -level diplomatic relations until 1976.Most of the 1970s and the 1980s, the relationship between the two countries has been cold until India Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (Rajiv Gandhi) conducted a historic visit to China in 1988.Three years later, Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng visited India before returning to the tradition of interrupted prime ministers for decades.
To this day, issues such as border disputes, Dalai Lama, China and Pakistan, and increasingly growing strategic competition continue to challenge India -China relations.At the same time, as the two largest emerging economies, it has significantly expanded the field of cooperation, and the two countries have many common interests.
It is worth noting that China and India are members of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and new Development Bank.New Development Bank is located in Shanghai, China, and is the president of the well -known Indian banker K. V. Kamath.When China -led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was established in 2015, India was also one of the founding member states.In addition, India and Pakistan are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The organization is the most important international organization to promote Eurasian national security and economic cooperation.
In recent years, China's commercial expansion in South Asia, especially the China -Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is part of the Belt and Road Initiative, has attracted great attention from India.India is also annoyed by China ’s continued opposition to the addition of Nuclear SUPPLIERS Group, and the reason for China is that India does not sign the nuclear non -diffusion treaty.
On the other hand, China has been vigilant to India's participation with Sifang Security Dialogue (QUAD) in the United States, Australia and Japan.China is particularly worried that India may join the United States' Indo -Pacific strategy to compete against China's rise.In strategic competition with the United States, China has been surrounded by several hotspots such as the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and the Korean Peninsula.From the perspective of realism, what China is the most unwilling to see is that India and the United States form the league against China.
In 2017, the two countries had a military confrontation in the Donglang area. After the border conflict was almost the outbreak, Indian Prime Minister Modi and China held two informal meetings in Wuhan and Zhenni, respectively.They emphasized the profound historical origins between the two ancient civilizations and vowed to cooperate in the rapidly changing contemporary world.Such a high -level commitment shows that India and China are willing and capable to improve bilateral relations while maintaining the stable border.In fact, in the past 10 years, India -China bilateral trade, investment and personnel exchanges have increased significantly.
Support each other in the seal of the crown disease
It is expected that the two countries in India and China will not have differences in the near future, and all unreasonable disputes will disappear.However, both major powers realized that peace and development are the common interests of the two countries, and pragmatic cooperation is beneficial to both countries.
Although the global crown disease caused the two countries to unable to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations together, senior officials of the two countries have caused congratulations.In the letter of Indian President Kao Wende, he expressed warm greetings, congratulations and good wishes to the Chinese government and its people, and pointed out that in the past few years, the two parties have been in the field of strengthening politics, economy, and humanities.Make great progress.
In the Capital Congratulations, the two countries have established strategic partnerships for peace and prosperity, and are working hard to build a closer development partnership.He is willing to work with Kao Wende to promote Sino -Indian relations to a new level, bringing more well -being to the two countries and the people of the two countries.
When the crown disease attacked China earlier this year, Modi wrote to China on February 8, saying that India will stand with the Chinese people and help China to defeat the epidemic.On February 26, India transported 15 tons of medical supplies to China, including urgently needed N95 masks, defibrillators and infusion pumps.
With the gradual improvement of the Chinese epidemic situation and the end of March, China began to provide support to India.For example, the Ma Yun Public Welfare Foundation donated medical supplies to Derry on March 28; the Chongqing Municipal Government transported protective clothing and N95 masks to India on April 2.China is expected to provide more assistance and support in the next.
India and China have the same population scale, but India's economic scale is about one -fifth of China, but the population density is three times that of China.As the health system was underdeveloped, India faced severe challenges with the spread of crown disease.In the global sanitation crisis, no country can be alone. China must help its largest neighboring country as much as possible to curb the spread of viruses.
In view of the friendly relationship between the two governments, India is unlikely to publicly accuse China in the popularity of crown disease.However, the Indian public's view of China may become more negative.Like other places, some Indians believe that the information of China's early stages of outbreak is not transparent, and at least to a certain extent, it cope with the global spread of the virus and its heavy economic and social costs.
Kerthinger, a well -known US diplomatic strategy, recently pointed out that crown diseases will always change world order.We hope that no matter how the world changes, as the two major participants of global affairs in the 21st century, India and China will strengthen cooperation to enhance the well -being of the peoples of the two countries and countries around the world.
The author is a professor of international relations and politics at the University of Bark N from the University of Barker
Original Lianhe Morning Post's English Electronic Magazine Thought China (ThinkChina)
Golden Shun Translation
