Twin powers but strategic partners?

As the world watches the unfolding entente between India and China, the city state of Singapore is doing a little more. It is debating the g...

As the world watches the unfolding entente between India and China, the city state of Singapore is doing a little more. It is debating the global consequences of the rise of India and China at an international conference here this week. In his keynote address last night, Lee Kuan Yew, the minister mentor of Singapore and Asia8217;s elder statesman, said the rapid economic growth of India and China will 8216;8216;shake the world8217;8217;.

Lee Kuan Yew predicted that India and China will 8216;8216;rebalance the world8217;8217;. But he urged the two Asian giants to avoid drifting into opposing camps, 8216;8216;one with US and the other against8217;8217;.

Underlying this caution, from a man who has reflected on the destinies of India and China for more than five decades, are the big questions about the future of Sino-Indian relations. Are India and China, the world8217;s newest great powers, condemned to inevitable rivalry? What are the limits to the current rapidly expanding Sino-Indian cooperation? And how will the US react to the growing Indian and Chinese influence on the world stage?

That they are not rivals is already the mantra in New Delhi and Beijing. At a press conference last month in Beijing, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao even quoted from the Upanishads to make the point.

Absence of rivalry and growing cooperation do not necessarily translate into 8216;8216;strategic partnership8217;8217;.

That they have settled, for now at least, on something less was indicated by Wen at his press conference in March. One of his major objectives in New Delhi, Wen declared, was to 8216;8216;come to grips with the importance of friendship between China and India from a strategic and comprehensive perspective8217;8217;.

Taking the 8216;8216;strategic high ground8217;8217;, as Wen told the PTI a few days ago, rather than proclaiming a 8216;8216;strategic partnership8217;8217; is the current key phrase in Sino-Indian relations. It is no secret that India and China differ on many global and regional issues. Chinese reluctance to clearly endorse India8217;s claim for the permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council quickly comes to mind. But that is no big deal. The US too has not yet said 8216;8216;yes8217;8217; to India. Sino-Indian divergence, however, is of greater relevance when we consider our neighbourhood. China, for example, is keen to get into South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation. India is not enthusiastic.

Story continues below this ad

China has not been supportive of India8217;s aspirations to get into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organisation and the East Asia Summit planned for later this year. India keeps a wary eye on the 8216;8216;all-weather friendship8217;8217; between China and Pakistan and monitors the growing Chinese presence in the subcontinent. Beijing closely watches India8217;s expanding military profile in South-East Asia and worries about New Delhi8217;s talk of strategic partnership with Tokyo and Washington.

The good news is that neither India nor China wants these concerns to come in the way of intensifying their bilateral cooperation.