NEW DELHI: That India and China are going through an unusually rough patch in their relations will be reflected in the talks Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee holds with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi when he arrives in Beijing on Wednesday.China has "expressed unhappiness" to India about the reopening of its old Ladakh airbase on the India-China border. This protest, made after India operationalized the base on Saturday, has been informally transmitted through officials.
It also comes after China's reported claim to a small area on the Sikkim border that put the Indian government in a spot because this was a part of the border that was supposedly no longer a contentious issue. While Beijing remained silent, the foreign ministry weakly suggested it was "minor and local". Sources said the actions would be attributed to the personal behaviour of the Chinese commander in the area.
However, India's decision to reopen the 4,960-metre Daulatbeg Oldi airbase in Ladakh after 43 years apparently has spoken louder than words. The base gives India coverage over Aksai Chin as well as the Karakoram highway, which connects China with Pakistan. India now plans to open two other airbases in Chushul and Fukche in eastern Ladakh, also on the Chinese border.
China has emerged as India's greatest strategic concern, having for years worried only about Pakistan. But because China and India are two rising powers in Asia, India's larger aim will be to ensure that China and India don't go bump in the night. Relations will never be comfortable, but the idea, in New Delhi, is to ensure that they don't go bad.
India's methods for doing this are not encouraging. There is a growing perception that India is bending over backwards to an increasingly aggressive China. Indian officials say that dealing with Chinese counterparts is more difficult these days because they have become more belligerent across the table that makes India's polite diplomats more than a tad uncomfortable.
On India's part, there is increasing concern about China building up road and rail capabilities that connect it with Nepal as well as proposed rail routes that will bring China close to Nathu La, the Arunachal Pradesh border as well as the Myanmar border junction.
Besides, the long series of incursions across the LAC over the past few months has upset this country, though India has not officially protested about it. Essentially, what this amounts to is the fact that both countries are ramping up their border capabilities, though India is still many years behind China in this regard.
Meanwhile, there is little or no progress on a boundary settlement. It is likely that dates would be set for another meeting of the special representatives, but basically, that's where things will stand. Neither government is in any position to show substantive movement on the boundary issue at this moment. China has taken an aggressive position on its territorial claims, which means a resolution is far away at this point.
Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, will pay a return visit to India later this year, said sources, just ahead of a planned high level visit by Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) and China's top lawmaker, towards the end of this year. Meanwhile, India and China are slated to hold their second joint military exercises, also towards the end of the year.
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