Opinion American option

Xi Jinping,the current vice president of China,who is expected to take charge from Hu Jintao after the 18th Party Congress this September,is heading to Washington soon. Washington is expected to roll out the red carpet for Xi,who will guide China’s destiny for the next decade.

In a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s historic fence-mending visit to China,Xi declared: “No matter what changes affect the international situation,our commitment to developing the Sino-US cooperative partnership should never waver in the face of passing developments”. Urging the United States to take an “objective and sensible view” of China’s strategic intentions,Xi insisted: “By no means can we let relations again suffer major disruption”.

Nuclear balance

Travelling through the Persian Gulf this week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao showcased Beijing’s deft diplomacy in navigating the growing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran,both of whom are China’s valued energy partners.

China has strongly resisted the US efforts,backed by Saudi Arabia,to isolate Iran,constrain its oil exports and compel it to roll back its nuclear weapons programme. In Saudi Arabia,which is deeply concerned about Iran’s nuclear programme,Wen signed a bilateral agreement to enhance atomic energy cooperation. If Beijing is unwilling to stop Iran’s nuclear quest,it is quite happy to support Saudi Arabia’s atomic aspirations. That,indeed,is a neat way of balancing China’s interests in Tehran and Riyadh. Delhi could learn a thing or two from Beijing on how to play all sides in the Middle East.

Lumbini project

On his way to Saudi Arabia,Wen had a brief but eventful stopover at Kathmandu. He delivered Beijing’s largest-ever aid package to Nepal — about $120 million to be disbursed over the next three years.

Wen was to have visited Nepal for three days in December,but the trip was cancelled at the last minute because of a conflicting schedule. But Nepal is of sufficient strategic importance to Beijing,given the Himalayan republic’s proximity to restive Tibet,for Wen to make up at the earliest opportunity.

Wen did not refer in public to the controversial,multi-billion dollar Lumbini project that seeks to develop world class infrastructure at the birthplace of Lord Buddha. While India was wary of the project,political opposition in Nepal had forced Kathmandu to put it on hold. Briefing the media on the talks with Wen,Nepalese Deputy Premier Narayan Kaji Shrestha said the Chinese premier was asked to extend the Chinese rail network up to Kathmandu and to Lumbini,which is close to the Indian border. Wen agreed to “seriously consider” Nepal’s request,according to Shrestha.

Given India’s sensitivities about Beijing’s expanding ties with Kathmandu,Wen was careful not give any offence to Delhi. At the luncheon in his honour by Nepal’s Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai,Wen supported the “continuation of Nepal’s warm and friendly ties with India”. In a media interaction after the Wen visit,Bhattarai outlined Nepal’s new thinking on its relations with China and India. Bhattarai suggested Nepal should stop seeing itself as a “buffer state” and develop itself as a “bridge state” between the two Asian giants. The Kathmandu establishment had long viewed Nepal as a “yam between two rocks”. Instead of playing India and China against each other,as Nepal’s ancient regime did,Bhattarai wants Nepal to develop cordial and balanced ties with both its neighbours.

In practice,this would involve,according to Bhattarai,building rail and road links with both China and India,establishing special economic zones near the borders with the two countries and attracting international capital to develop Nepal’s hydropower,tourism and cultural sectors. Bhattarai also suggested Nepal must not look at the Lumbini project in isolation. “Lumbini,along with Sarnath,Kushinagar,and Bodh Gaya of India should be developed as cultural destinations in an integrated way,” he said,“In this way,Nepal could be a cultural bridge between China and India.”

Delhi has a great opportunity to build on Bhattarai’s ideas. Instead of seeing Chinese plans to develop Lumbini as a threat,Delhi must explore the prospects of collaborating with Beijing and Kathmandu in the comprehensive development of Buddhist heritage across the Himalayas.

The writer is a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research,Delhi

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