India-China: the two powers to dialogue on the Indo-Pacific, while competing in East Africa
New Delhi, 05 Jul 13:51 - (Agenzia Nova)- The recent thaw in relations between India and China, ratified by the informal summit at the end of April in Wuhan between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, could soon lead to a dialogue on a theme crucial: the Indo-Pacific or Asia-Pacific area, depending on the point of view. The Indian newspaper "Hindustan Times" is based on sources close to the New Delhi government. In addition, preparations for an interview on the same subject with Russia would be under way. "We will have dialogues on maritime issues with China and Russia in the coming months. Our effort is to elaborate the details and see how we can achieve coherence in the Indo-Pacific community on the Indo-Pacific concept, "reveals one of the sources to the newspaper.
India is also part of a four-party grouping, called the Quad, which includes the United States, Japan and Australia, whose constitution, still in its infancy, is considered a response to the growing assertiveness of China in the Indo- Pacific. The second meeting of the new four-sided format, at senior official level, took place on 7 June in Singapore, on the sidelines of a meeting of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, after the initial meeting in November in the Philippines , always on the sidelines of an Asean event. The meeting was in the interval between other important events: shortly after the speech with which Premier Modi illustrated his vision for the Indo-Pacific at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, or Asia Security Summit,
On several recent international occasions there have been no public criticism of China by the Indian side. In the speech of the Shangri-La Dialogue Modi insisted on the cooperative dimension, premising that "the Indo-Pacific is a natural region". In his six-point vision, he speaks of "a free, open, inclusive region", with "South-East Asia at the center", whose development must "evolve through dialogue and a common rule-based order" that recognizes " sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the equality of all nations, regardless of size and strength ".
Modi also spoke of "equal access, according to international law, to the use of common spaces on the sea and in the air that would require freedom of navigation, trade without obstacles and peaceful resolutions of disputes in accordance with international law". He also defended openness to global trade, against growing protectionism, and added that "connectivity is vital" because "it does much more than increase trade and prosperity. It unites a region ", while warning that the initiatives for infrastructural development" must be based on respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, consultation, good governance, transparency, feasibility and sustainability "and" must promote the trade, not strategic competition ".
"On these principles, we are ready to work with everyone," said the Indian prime minister, ensuring that "India's involvement in the Indo-Pacific region - from the coasts of Africa to those of the Americas - will be inclusive" and will promote " an international democratic order based on the rules ". India's vision for the Indo-Pacific area, he concluded, is realistic as long as "do not return to the age of great power rivalries": "Asia of rivalry will keep us all back. Asia of cooperation will shape this century ", Modi summarized.
That text was explicitly recalled by the Indian delegation in the Quad meeting, whose participants, in the final declaration, "reaffirmed their support for a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. They also confirmed the common commitment, based on shared values and principles, to promote an order based on law "; reiterated "the centrality of the Asean" and its mechanisms in regional architecture and agreed to "collaborate with all countries and institutions in the region to promote the shared vision of an Indo-Pacific in peace, secure and prosperous, even through these plurilateral formats ".
In essence, with the Singapore speech in the name of multipolarism, Modi wanted to ensure that the Quad is not the only custodian of the Indo-Pacific area and that the concept of Indo-Pacific is not directed against anyone. In fact, the Chinese government has reacted favorably: Hua Chunying, spokesman for the Beijing Foreign Ministry, said: "We greatly appreciate this kind of positive comments". Hua then recalled that at the April informal summit Modi and Xi, "they had an in-depth exchange of views on the international scene and on bilateral relations and reached many consensus points" and that "they agreed to take a mature and wise approach to manage adequately differences ".
The progress of China-India relations since that summit, in effect, has translated into various initiatives. As a first consequence of the commitment made to Wuhan to improve strategic communication, including that between the military summits, on May 1 meetings of the border personnel of the two countries were held at different points along the effective control line, the border area contest, on which 23 "areas of dispute" insist. The parties are maintaining a situation of tranquility after the stagnation of the Doklam (Donglang in Chinese) last summer, when the Indian troops blocked for two months the Chinese engaged in the construction of a road in the disputed territory between China and Bhutan, allied India.
Currently a high-level delegation of the Chinese Army led by Lieutenant General Liu Xiaowu, Deputy Commander of the Western Theater command, he is in India, in Calcutta, on a trip that has already made stops in New Delhi, Agri and Sukna. The visit should soon be followed by that of the Minister of Defense of China, Wei Fenghe, on whose date talks are taking place between the two governments.
Other developments have been on the economic front. The Chinese government has removed the duties on the import of 28 pharmaceutical products, including cancer anticancer drugs, removal that will help India to export drugs to the neighboring country and reduce the trade imbalance between the two countries. On the other hand, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Indian Central Bank, has authorized Bank of China, a publicly controlled Chinese bank, to operate in the country. Another significant initiative is the decision of the Indian airline, Air India, with the approval of the Foreign Ministry of New Delhi, to refer to Taiwan as Chinese Taipei, accepting the request of the Civil Aviation Authority of the China.
At the political level, the most important decision, taken by Modi and Xi on the sidelines of the Tsingtao Sco summit (9-10 June), concerns a joint peace project for Afghanistan: the initiative should increase India's role in Afghanistan , but it could also reduce the relationship between China and Pakistan, which is responsible for destabilizing Afghanistan. Moreover, in the summit, China managed to involve India in the defense of open trade and in opposition to protectionism. India, however, was the only country participating in the summit not to support the New Silk Road, the great Chinese connectivity initiative, due to the Indian opposition to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which crosses the territory of Kashmir occupied by Pakistan.
The New Silk Road, the Doklam, the UN terrorist designation by Masood Azhar, head of the Pakistani jihadist group Jaish-e-Muhammad (Jem), blocked by China, as well as India's entry into the Group of nuclear suppliers, multilateral export control regime, remain the most sensitive points. Another area of rivalry is Africa: the next summit of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) to be held from 25 to 27 July in the South African city of Johannesburg will be a moment of confrontation. Ways to take advantage of the occasion of the trip to visit Rwanda and Uganda; at least one of the two countries, Rwanda, will also be visited by Xi.
For Modi it will be the first visit to Uganda, a country that has welcomed other Indian prime ministers in 1997 and 2007. The visit to Rwanda, however, will be the first ever for an Indian premier. Modi will meet the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, and the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni; in both Kigali and Kampala, several agreements should be signed. Both states are members of the Commonwealth, an organization in which India plays a major role. Both the annual volume of trade and China's foreign direct investment in Africa is twice that of India; as part of the New Silk Road projects, China grants billions to African countries; Uganda paid almost three billion dollars to Uganda. However, India has reduced the distance in recent times in East Africa, thanks to the historical and cultural links with that region. Both New Delhi and Beijing are aware of the strategic importance of East Africa, both for the wealth of resources and the emerging market.
More generally, India does not intend to renounce a major role in South-South cooperation. In March, the Indian government approved the opening of 18 new Indian missions to Africa in the years 2018-2021, implementing the commitments of the third India-Africa Forum (IAFS) summit, in 2015. The countries concerned are Burkina Faso , Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swaziland and Togo. The number of Indian missions on the continent will increase from 29 to 47. The new openings respond to the dual objective of improving assistance to compatriots residing in African countries and expanding collaboration to development on the continent.