Beijing is fashioning water into a political weapon by denying India flood-related hydrological data since May, even as major flooding has hit the region from Assam to Uttar Pradesh. Data on upstream river flows is essential for flood forecasting and warning in order to save lives and reduce material losses. China’s data denial crimps flash flood modelling in India.
The two-month border standoff between China and India is not a huge concern for the Chinese business community in India because few are expecting a full-fledged war between the two Asian giants. The biggest worry for them is the chronic shortage of Chinese staff in India.
The more power China has accumulated, the more it has attempted to achieve its foreign-policy objectives with bluff, bluster, and bullying. But, as its Himalayan border standoff with India’s military continues, the limits of this approach are becoming increasingly apparent.
New Delhi is dissatisfied with Beijing’s stance over its membership bid to the Nuclear Suppliers Group and its request to name Masood Azhar, head of Pakistani militant group, to a UN Security Council blacklist. Therefore, Delhi attempts to play the Tibet card against Beijing. In fact, China has never thought of making trouble for India, and is handling these issues in accordance with international practices and UN regulations.
New Delhi still has two weeks to find a compromise formula on the Dalai Lama’s visit to Tawang that will allow both countries to put the issue back in the freezer. But what will happen if it does not try, or worse still, tries and fails? Will China take military action? And if it does, what will it be?
If Modi wins the next election, India’s current firm and tough manner is bound to continue. It will be without question good news for the country’s own development. Nevertheless, it will likely mean more difficulties in making compromises in rows with other countries. Take the border disputes between Beijing and New Delhi. No silver lining has yet emerged and Modi demonstrated his firm stance over the issue by celebrating Diwali, India’s biggest holiday, with soldiers at the Sino-Indian border.
The McMahon Line, drawn at the behest of the British Raj in 1914, has been adopted by the Indian government as the definitive statement of its border with China in the northeast, although the line has never been accepted by any Chinese government. It was drawn by Henry McMahon and accepted by representatives of the Tibetan government in bilateral discussions that were contemporaneous but separate from the abortive tripartite British/Tibetan/Chinese negotiations on the Simla Convention.
In 2015, trade between China and India stood at $71.62 billion, up 1.4 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). As of the end of 2015, outstanding investment volume by Chinese companies in India totalled $3.55 billion, while Indian firms invested $644 million in China, the MOFCOM data showed. Also in 2015, Chinese non-financial direct investment to India reached $143 million, down 41.2 percent. Meanwhile, Indian investment to China reached $80.8 million, up 59.2 percent from the previous year.
The efforts of China and India moving closer have been snubbed by the West, which tries to hype the contention of the two sides. Given the border disputes between China and India, and geopolitical rivalry as well, mutual distrust is slow to dissolve, and India is vigilant against China’s rise. This creates opportunities for other countries to drive a wedge between Beijing and New Delhi. But China and India have reached a solid consensus that continued growth in bilateral relations should not be thwarted by divergences.
China said there was no stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the border area, in response to reports by the Indian media which said Indian troops demolished a Chinese constructed watch tower in the sensitive region.
