At a time of such terrible violence in many parts of the world, it is good to remember that seemingly intractable confrontations can cease and that, in the end, the way of negotiation and compromise can lead to peace and amity. India and China are proof positive of this. For 40 years these two most populous nations have been at daggers drawn. The struggle for power and influence along their common borders brought them to war in 1962. The Chinese disputed the inclusion of the Himalayan territory of Sikkim and the state of Arunachal Pradesh within India. India assumed control of Sikkim’s external affairs, defense and communications in 1950 and gradually subsumed the territory and in 1975 Sikkim became India’s 22nd state. China for its part had taken over Tibet in 1950.
An uneasy peace prevailed between the two countries. Several Western military analysts predicted that the next major global conflict would take place between New Delhi and Beijing. In 1986, with both countries in possession of nuclear weapons and the sophisticated rocketry to deliver them, confrontation along the disputed borders nearly led to a second war. Worldwide mediation to which both the old Soviet Union and the United States contributed led to a cooling of the crisis. However it was not until former Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee made a week-long visit to China last year that relations between the two regional superpowers took a serious turn for the better, not least because he signaled India’s formal recognition that the autonomous region of Tibet is now a part of China.
This year the fruits of the Vajpayee visit have become visible. On India’s Aug. 15 Independence Day, a remarkable ceremony took place in the Bumla Pass on the Arunachal Pradesh border with China. Fifty Chinese officers and their families met with their Indian counterparts to celebrate India’s freedom from British rule. This Friday, the Indians repaid the compliment by sending another delegation to join with yet another Chinese party to mark China’s National Day. The changes reflect the new economic realities which are turning the minds in the political leaderships in New Delhi and Beijing away from confrontation over territory to the far more advantageous and profitable business of managing and enhancing burgeoning economic growth.
Economically India and China have much to gain from cooperation and partnership. Both have huge populations with aspirations to a markedly improved quality of life. Both peoples enjoy a commercial genius which has for long been trammeled by state interference. Economically the 21st century is likely to be dominated by the Asian tiger economies. There will in time be further tensions and disputes but at this formative stage of their economic development, it is appropriate that old quarrels should be laid aside. This year China has accepted the inclusion of Sikkim within India and it seems likely that a similar agreement will come over Arunachal Pradesh. Even five years ago, these moves were unthinkable, proving that no one should ever despair of peace.
