INDIA’S Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his three-day visit to China wrapping up US$ 22 billion worth trade and investment agreements taking the business ties of the two nations to a new height. They have critical political issues, but decided to move on business fronts allowing their relations to grow trouble free for now. During a visit to Beijing’s Temple of Heaven, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used his selfie diplomacy and captured a photograph of himself with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. This is arguably the first selfie of the Chinese Premier. Modi later posted it on his Weibo account. He spent the day in talks with Li taking a major part of his three-day trip before he was set to travel to Shanghai on Saturday. Many Weibo users reacted with delight to the two leaders’ selfie, while others wondered why China’s leaders had no social media presence.
The highlights of the Modi visit unveiled big business deals that includes China Inc.’s strong interest in the Indian story, says a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs of India. The MoUs which span a wide range of industries including renewable energy, power infrastructure, and steel and small and medium industries will enhance Chinese companies’ commitment to ‘Make in India’, the statement has said. Among major agreements is Bharti Airtel’s tie-up for credit facility of $2.5 billion with China Development Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. The Adani Group also inked an agreement with Golden Concord Holdings to establish an integrated photovoltaic industrial park in Mundra Special Economic Zone and to explore investments in gas power generation and natural gas sector.
These were the noticeable highlights of Modi’s trip to China establishing both personal ties and business collaborations to create further prosperity of the two nations. The major substantial issues like the border problems and Jammu and Kashmir problem were left unresolved as evinced by the fact that the state-run CCTV channel showed an entire map of India dropping the Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal regions out of the map. They avoided the thorny issues to achieve maximum in the business front.
But it is nonetheless a start. Not since the 1950s with the talk of India-China brotherly relations, ties with China has not been, at least on the surface, so good. Modi is merely carrying on the realpolitik stance of Nehru being aware of the fact that China is a rising giant economically; and as the saying goes, if you can’t beat them, join them. If Modi had wanted he could have touched on the border issues, but he wisely decided that pragmatism and a stance on mutual development would be economically beneficial to both the nations. This visit to China has therefore brought economic gains for India, but politically the pesky border issues still need to be thrashed out. But whether this will happen at all in the near future is anybody’s guess.
