The Dragon and the Elephant: The Past and Future of China-India Relations

A movie jointly produced by China and India, Xuan Zang in the half of 2016, which hit theaters, tells the legendary story of eminent Chinese monk Xuan Zang’s arduous journey alone to India seeking Buddhist scriptures during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The film recalls a glorious chapter in the history of Sino-Indian cultural exchange and re-ignites the public’s interest in the millennia-old friendly communication between the two countries.

In June 2016, during my visit to Assam, I got to know a 29-year-old Chinese man who worked together with his Indian colleagues to maintain Asia’s oldest oil well hidden in the primitive forest in a border town. At that time, he had been married for just a month. I have met many Chinese like him, who won the respect of local communities with their diligence and hospitality while helping to improve China- India relations.

A 14-year-old girl from Mumbai once wrote a letter to the Chinese ambassador to India, saying that “China and India should keep the past behind and move ahead as we are living in a time of collaboration and not confrontation.” Her words perfectly underscore the future of Sino-Indian relations.

All of these stories show that, as two neighbors bonded together for millennia, China and India are ushering in a new era of bilateral relations. Since President Xi Jinping’s visit to India in 2014 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China in 2015, particularly, the relationship has witnessed a significant turning point and entered the best period in the past half century.

Closer Political Interactions

President Xi and Prime Minister Modi entertained each other in their respective hometowns, marking a remarkable improvement of China-India relations. In the past 12 months, several Chinese leaders visited India, and India’s president, vice president and minister of home affairs consecutively visited China. In September of this year, Indian Prime Minister Modi attended the G20 Summit held in China’s Hangzhou, and Chinese leaders are expected to take part in the BRICS Leaders Meeting hosted by India. Besides high-level mutual visits, substantial progress has been made in cooperation between the two countries’ local governments. Mutual visits of provincial-level delegations flourished between the two countries. Increasing numbers of Chinese provinces and Indian states have established good relationship. To date, the two countries have had ten pairs of sister provinces (states) and sister cities.

As two major developing powers with many commonalities, China and India have shared political interests in some international issues. In recent years, the two countries have made significant achievements in coping with climate change together and collaborating under the BRICS framework. They have worked together to safeguard the shared interests of developing countries and promote the rise of emerging economies. With the support of China and other countries, India recently signed a memorandum of understanding over its obligations to become a member-state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). As some Indian friends said, at a critical period for the rise of Asia and emerging powers and the adjustment of international and regional landscapes, India and China should put aside their disputes in reality and focus on regional and global cooperation while developing their bilateral relations from broad and strategic perspectives.

Doubtless, there will be quarrels and dissensions between the two Asian neighbors, but Asians have enough wisdom and capacity to control and settle their differences through bilateral negotiations. Besides, the common interests of the two countries overweigh their differences. Despite the fact that it is impossible to settle the border dispute in a short time, not a single shot was fired in the border areas in the past decades. Incidents on the border have been under control as measures aimed at building mutual trust have been effectively implemented. The border dispute hasn’t affected the overall development of their bilateral relations. This marks a rare achievement ever in international relations and testifies to the great wisdom of the leaders and peoples of the two countries.

Greater Economic Cooperation

Currently, increasing numbers of Chinese enterprises have begun setting their sights on the promising Indian market and taken part in India’s ongoing national initiatives and programmes such as ‘Make in India,’ ‘Digital India’ and ‘Smart City’,  thereby reshaping the landscape of Sino-Indian economic cooperation.

So far, the total amount of Chinese investments in India has reached nearly US$4 billion. In 2015 alone, China signed agreements to invest US$40 billion in India. The rapid growth of China’s direct investments in India has not only offset India’s trade deficit with China, but also created enormous amounts of jobs and tax revenues in India. To date, more than 50 Chinese manufacturing enterprises have set up plants in India. For instance, Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock Co., Ltd. (TBEA), a private enterprise in China, already built an industrial park in Gujarat, India. Chinese telecom equipment giants, Huawei and ZTE, have set up R&D bases in India. Chinese real estate developers – Wanda Group and China Fortune Land Development Co., Ltd. – propose to help India build new industrial cities. China has always regarded India as one of its major partners in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, and hopes to join hands with India to develop the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor and integrate it with India’s ‘Act East’ policy.

Even in the field of traditional businesses, there are opportunities for the two countries to expand and upgrade bilateral trade. For example, some traders took advantage of the trend among Chinese young white-collar workers for drinking tea and increased the export of Darjeeling and Assam black tea to China by 23 percent in the first quarter of 2016. Last year, India exported more than US$100 million of black tea to China. Due to their good quality, affordable prices and avant-garde marketing practices, Chinese smartphones are popular among Indian youngsters, with sales almost equal to that of Apple’s iPhone. In addition, trade via e-commerce platforms has thrived between the two countries, evidenced by the cooperation between China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba and India’s online payment platform Paytm.

Further Cultural Exchange 

Cultural exchanges between China and India can be traced back some 2,000 years. During much of this historical period, peoples of the two countries could visit each other freely, without the need of any passport or visa. In modern times, Western colonialists fomented feelings of estrangement between the two countries. Nowadays, Chinese and Indians are trying to transcend geological and historical barriers and achieve heart-to-heart communication.

Since India began providing electronic visa for Chinese citizens in August 2015, the number of Chinese tourists to India has doubled. Mutual visits between the two countries exceeded a million for the first time. In 2015, China opened a new route along the Himalayan Nathu La Pass for Indian pilgrims traveling to Tibet, which is safer and more comfortable and convenient.

Yoga, Indian food, and Bollywood films and dances are becoming more popular in China. Meanwhile, the passion for learning Chinese is sweeping across India. Not only are more and more Indian youngsters dedicated to learning Chinese language, but also many Indian companies tend to hire employees who can speak Chinese. A number of India colleges and universities are offering Chinese language programs. It is predicted that Chinese language will soon be popular across India.

Geostrategic and economic interests inevitably come to mind when considering and handling China-India relations. Sometimes we need to draw inspiration from the history of the Silk Road, so as to promote more cultural exchanges between the two countries while putting aside entanglements over tangible interests. Both Chinese and Indians are interested in each other’s history and culture, and respect the historical figures who have made great contributions to cultural exchange between the two countries. Such a feeling should nudge the elite to prioritize people’s development and wellbeing when considering Sino-Indian relations and selflessly dedicate themselves to promoting China-India friendship. By doing so, they may not earn money and may even face risks and loneliness, but they can feel truly happy for having benefited others.

China and India share similar national situations. Thus, they can learn from each other as they go forward on the path of development. They need each other very much and are eager to understand and cooperate with each other. The dragon and the elephant are not enemies; they can dance together. As long as we look into the future, trust each other and put our bilateral relations under the framework of the Asian Century, Chinese Dream and Indian Dream, China-India relations will stick to the right way and see enormous progress.

A recent advertisement of a Chinese smartphone manufacturer in India tells the story of a couple of childhood sweethearts who lost contact when growing up; but they recognize each other from a photo taken with their smartphones and finally get married. China and India are just like those two childhood friends: They were once out of touch, but the fate has brought the two countries together again and urged them to build a shared bright future.

The author is Charge d'Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in India.