Braha Chellaney writes: In recent years, the People\u2019s Liberation Army has been taking advantage of its rising political clout to provoke localized skirmishes and standoffs with India by breaching the two countries\u2019 long and disputed Himalayan frontier. The PLA\u2019s recent intensification of such border violations holds important implications for President Xi Jinping\u2019s upcoming visit to India \u2013 and for the future of the bilateral relationship.
\nIn fact, such provocations have often preceded visits to India by Chinese leaders. Indeed, it was just before President Hu Jintao\u2019s 2006 visit that China resurrected its claim to India\u2019s large northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.<\/p>\n
By contrast, Indian prime ministers since Jawaharlal Nehru have traveled to China to express goodwill and deliver strategic gifts. Unsurprisingly, India has often ended up losing out in bilateral deals.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s annexation of Tibet, without securing (or even seeking) recognition of the then-existing Indo-Tibetan border. In fact, under the treaty, India forfeited all of the extraterritorial rights and privileges in Tibet that it had inherited from imperial Britain.
\nAs agreed in the pact, India withdrew its \u201cmilitary escorts\u201d from Tibet, and conceded to the Chinese government, at a \u201creasonable\u201d price, the postal, telegraph, and public telephone services operated by the Indian government in the \u201cTibet region of China.\u201d For its part, China repeatedly violated the eight-year pact, ultimately mounting the trans-Himalayan invasion of 1962.<\/p>\n
In short, China used the Panchsheel Treaty to outwit and humiliate India. Yet, just this summer, Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s new government sent Vice President Hamid Ansari to Beijing to participate in the treaty\u2019s 60th anniversary celebrations.
\nAnsari was accompanied by Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who, during her stay, signed an agreement allowing China \u2013 without any quid pro quo \u2013 to establish industrial parks in India. This will exacerbate existing imbalances in the bilateral trade relationship \u2013 China currently exports to India three times more than it imports from the country, with most of these imports being raw materials \u2013thereby exposing India to increased strategic pressure and serving China\u2019s interest in preventing India\u2019s rise as a peer competitor.<\/p>\n
A reminder of that came at July\u2019s BRICS summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, when, yet again, China emerged ahead of India. The BRICS\u2019 New Development Bank, it was announced, will be headquartered in Shanghai, not New Delhi; India\u2019s consolation prize was that an Indian will serve as the Bank\u2019s first president.<\/p>\n
India must consider carefully the pretense of partnership with China that it is forming through trade and BRICS agreements \u2013 at least until a more balanced bilateral relationship emerges. After all, neither booming trade nor membership in the BRICS club offers protection from bullying.<\/p>\n
Braha Chellaney writes: In recent years, the People\u2019s Liberation Army has been taking advantage of its rising political clout to provoke localized skirmishes and standoffs with India by breaching the two countries\u2019 long and disputed Himalayan frontier. The PLA\u2019s recent … Continue reading ![\"China](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/China-India-relations-300x182.jpg\")
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