Binoo Joshi
A big confidence was speaking behind the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the doomsayers were predicting everything going bad for India in the course of the tense stand-off in eastern Ladakh grossly vulnerable to misinterpretation of the Line of Actual Control, in short, LAC.
China is a big power . Its influence can be compared to the United States of America . But, India is a big neighbour of China. Beijing knows it .
The doomsayers had to eat their words when military commanders of India and China met at Chushul-Moldo face to face to resolve the tense sirens in a cordial atmosphere on Saturday. A day later, Ministry of external affairs from Delhi issued a statement that promised continuation of talks and resolution of the issue in consonance with the diplomatic norms . Next day- Monday Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying reciprocates the spirit of harmonised bilateral relations.
The most important part of the Chinese statement was to hold consultations and not to allow differences to escalate into disputes. She said the situation was stable and controllable.
Both the sides were referring to the sentiment of mutual respect to each other’s concerns and ambitions in the geopolitical landscape. That spirit was injected in a statement issued after the informal summit IN Wuhan, China , between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping in April 2018
Prime Minister Modi and President Xi reviewed developments in India-China relations from the strategic and long-term perspective. They agreed to significantly enhance efforts to build on the convergences through the established mechanisms in order to create the broadest possible platform for the future relationship. They also agreed that both sides have the maturity and wisdom to handle the differences through peaceful discussion within the context of the overall relationship, bearing in mind the importance of respecting each other’s sensitivities, concerns and aspirations.
The two leaders expressed their support for the work of the Special Representatives on the India China Boundary Question and urged them to intensify their efforts to seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement. The two leaders underscored the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility in all areas of the India-China border region in the larger interest of the overall development of bilateral relations. To this end, they issued strategic guidance to their respective militaries to strengthen communication in order to build trust and mutual understanding and enhance predictability and effectiveness in the management of border affairs. The two leaders further directed their militaries to earnestly implement various confidence building measures agreed upon between the two sides, including the principle of mutual and equal security, and strengthen existing institutional arrangements and information sharing mechanisms to prevent incidents in border regions.
The two leaders agreed to push forward bilateral trade and investment in a balanced and sustainable manner by taking advantage of complementarities between their two economies. They also discussed ways to promote greater cultural and people-to-people exchanges and agreed to explore establishing new mechanisms in this direction.
This is what guides the commander level talks about which China and India both acknowledged the spirit of mutual respect for each other and to resolve complex issues through time tested methodology of diplomacy and channel of communication , the rules for which were laid long ago.
Prime Minister Modi how to approach the issues and resolve them. He had envisioned all these means in 2018 and reiterated the strength of dialogue to avert clashes on borders.
Modi has a vision the results of which were visible from Saturday to Monday. There wasn’t any tension in talks that will take discussions forward where the two sides are expected to work to reach a middle ground.
