This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Indo-China war. Yet while China seems to have moved on, India is still seemingly nursing its wounds. Indeed, the sad fact is that it has been unable to reconcile the psychological trauma inflicted during its infancy as a nation.
This is reflected in the attitude of India towards its neighbour, and the way it allows even small issues to mar bilateral relations. Despite rhetorical flourishes over how the two countries are natural partners in growth, Sino-India relations are increasingly complicated. The two nations are engaging with each other on boundary issues, undertaking regular high-level political contacts and seeing bilateral trade soar. But although they both believe in a multi-polar world, their distrust for each other seems to be increasing.
Take the example of a recent dispute concerning Indian traders in China. Two traders were held hostage in Yiwu because the company they were representing failed to honor its business commitments.The media and some other groups in India hyped the issue to such an extent that it placed a further strain on political ties. This is despite the fact that India has had numerous similar issues with other nations, including Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The difference in those cases, though, is that disputes don’t become potential political flashpoints.
Unfortunately, the latest incident was marked by jingoism, and there was no real attempt by the mainstream media to understand the problem. Instead of an informed and enlightened debate, most of the coverage sought to create hysteria. This forced the government to intervene and engage at the political level.
At times, India seems to display a kind of siege mentality in dealing with its neighbour – it acts as if it’s being encircled in the region by a rising China. And it all seems to boil down to its 1962 defeat.
Compounding the problem is the fact that the political leaderships of both countries are very quick to talk about their shared history and vision for global development, but fail to get to the root of disagreements that exist now. As a result, despite having robust economic and cultural ties, mutual trust between the two is diminishing rather than increasing.
It’s time we moved forward and accepted the differences between us so that a new understanding can be forged. According to an old saying, there can’t be two tigers on a mountain. But in geostrategic terms these days there’s enough space for the two tigers to exist together with their own distinct identity and spheres of influence.
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Thomas
The problem between China and India relations is that India’s elites are puppets and stooges of the Western Powers! Indians believe themselves free of their colonial yoke it do not seem to realize that a white, european, Italian woman controls them. India is a sham democracy and a failed state!
Patrick
Nice comment troll, have a cookie!
Girish
@Thomas
every country is a failed state and puppet of someone if someone like you get into proving it that way..!!
Mishmael
India’s problem is that its political system, while being a democracy as we are constantly reminded, simply does not reward pragmatic cooperation in the same way that China’s does. In China, political elites are selected in a non-democratic process where they are judged based on their performances in achieving defined policy objectives, for instance achieving economic growth. In contrast, Indian political elites not only have an incentive to pander to the opinions of their constituencies, they are often rewarded with explicit electoral gains for rejecting pragmatism on the grounds of public opinion.
It should be noted that this is not exactly saying that India is worse off for its democracy. Rather, the problem for India is that it cannot overcome a basic problem of popular democracy, which is the often illiberal attitudes of the electorate. Many other democratic states do address this problem through legal mechanisms and institutions, and investments in education. India however appears to face several factors which prevent any ruling party from altering this phenomenon. The population is very large and hence very difficult to influence in a positive way. The population is very diverse which again increases that difficulty. The socioeconomic conditions in many parts of India are also ill-equipped to promote a politically liberal narrative, whether because they cannot afford it or because the local conditions are heavily sectarian and accordingly illiberal. Finally India’s political climate is often judged in relation to those of admittedly less successful states, which in turn interferes with legitimate debate over the effectiveness of Indian politics.
harry
nice article. the difference between China and india is that even after 30million of it’s citizens being killed by the japanese aggression in the 80s China and japan sat down and started doing business, especially during the early periods of economic reforms japan had invested massive amount of capital into CHina.
india on the other hand has this selfish and short sided idealistic mentality. this unhealthy mentality dont steam from india’s political system, its rather the feudal remnants of the old india, things like caste system are deeply rooted in in indian mentality for centuries. its these kind of feudal remnants of segregation “if you are not with me then you must be against me” added with the idealistic fake democracy that makes it all wrong.
unless the idealist india goes through a communist revolution it will NEVER catch up the the pragmatis East Asians (Chinese south koreans and japanese) indians have experianced NOTHING close to the hardship Chinese had to go through only 30 years ago.
there is a reason why all the countries who went through hardships are pragmatic Germans Chinese Japanese and south koreans. and because of their pragmatic view in everything their economy is doing much better than the idealists like UK USA or france.
yang zi
India just can’t get over the fact that it made a mistake. it never seriously considered Chinese point of view. thinking it is superiror and behaved foolishly.
India should just blame everything on Nehru and move on. very hard to do though
Subho
@harry
india and china also doing great in business.no need to worry.their relation will improve more once they solve border problems and grow mutual trust.also you have no idea about cast system.it was built to divide people according to their jobs.though a huge number of people suffered in past because of this,but government provides huge amount of opportunity to them in almost all government sectors.also,i dont think there is no need of another communist “cultural revolution” in india.i dont blame you for your view about indian life.you have to be an indian to understand.money and standard of life isn’t everything in an indian’s life….there are cultures too..also,it may be a “fake” democracy,but it is a working one.and still we don’t loose our voice and our personal freedom in our country unlike you do.so stop complaining about that.
harry
there are great economic similarities between Germany japan south korea and China. they are all economies built on manufacturing sector and working their way up the value chain. and all of the former 3 nations has less time being democratic than india and yet they are all fully democratic societies. so i dont see indian political system is anything to cheer about.
It’s proven by those countries very similar to CHina’s development plan when the middle class reaches a certain percentage political reform is only a natural event.
LOL are you trying to justify the caste system?? right now in the so called democratic india 200 million dalits are picking up the excrements of so called upper caste.
Mazo
Your comment indicate a clear lack of understanding of India. India is not like Germany, Japan or South Korea.
To compare India, you have to take the example of Europe as a whole. Just like there are dozens of different people with different cultures, so too in India there are dozens of different people with different culture and different attitudes but like Europeans, Indians also share a common attitude of being India – a common culture than binds all Indians together. Japan, S.Korea and Germany are very homogenous places that were very highly industrialized since the beginning. And Unlike India, none of these places had 250 years of colonial rule. Democracy in India is perhaps the greatest testament to democracy anywhere in the world because despite the differences, despite the problems, people in Indian – even the poorest of the poor cherishes his/her vote. Asian nations like S.Korea and Japan are hardly democracies compared to India – their democracy is lifeless, bland and dull. Same with Germany where culture, religion, morality and freedoms are debated and decided. Your entire concept of “success” is skewed to symbolize material wealth and physical objects, you are forgetting to factor in things like social change and social progress. Democracy works wonders in bringing about social change and India is a prime example of its successes if you compared India today to India 60 years ago. Skyscrappers and gleaming cities can be built by anybody but reforming society is a tedious processs
Tony
The reason for India’s immaturity to this level shows that the country still relies on the soft weak and impotent Gandhian dynasty which has held and will hold the country with its parasetic tentacles and fangs of corruption, impotentancy and sick weak ministers who are supposed to be in their graves..How can a soft power project leadership and think with a matured vision for the humanity of this wonderful planet we live in…and so are the chinese as well, they enjoy and love bullying India and vice versa..
yang zi
It is a cultural thing!
I blame on the folk culture or religion of Hinduism and Buddhism. Yes! I said it.
Why? All the deities and heresies. Do you guys aware Dalai Lama still issues orders based on his dreams? Either he is a fool, or he is fooling, which do you believe?
How about all kinds of gods?
So the culture is embedded with believing what the mind perceives, not facts. It’s a rumor culture!
Every society has its hysterical population, India has more. Indians are masters of talking and thinking out of a bad situation. They like to spiritually overcome difficulties, not practically solve it. When Buddhism spread to China, Chinese modified it to be more practical, this how Zen was created.
This is in no way to criticize Indian culture, it has its benefits, and there are many facts grounded smart Indians. This is just an observation from outside, what do you think? Indian friends?
come back to Liang1a, his facts are not checked, his logic has flaws, but his approach is correct, he has an approach of science.
yang zi
btw, the Chinese ambassador who famously asked an Indian journalist to shut up, he is superb. He is trying to help our good neighbor to change for the better. This can only come from an astute student of Indian culture.
pritam
yang zi,
you may not have freedom of speech in your country,but we have.the chinese ambassador showed his cheap mentality by saying that.no civilized person would say that to a reporter,who were merely asking questions….by the way,i’m sorry about the “civilized” word,i’m talking about a chinese….its a disgrace of that word.
harry
poverty preludes “freedom” 75% of indians suffer from this
caste segregation is not “freedom” 200 million dalits suffer from this
no access to toilets is not “freedom” 800 million indians suffer from this
hereditary for seats of the parliment is not “freedom” elites of india benefits from it.
your government is along with the arabs and the lunatic dalai lama are the only society and political system that tolerates feudal practice of caste system 2000 years after China abolished its own.
EAM
Ah….you have finally declared your colours. Quite sad really! A few of decades ago, it used to be Chinese who were targeted in this way. We were told that Confucianism bred hierarchy, fatalism and resignation to one’s fate in contrast to the Samurai spirit of the Japanese. Then when China started to grow we were told that Confucianism after all promoted business and enterprise! The truth is that most cultures are so diverse that you pick elements in to to prove whatever you like, and hence is a particularly unhelpful tool in analysis. The point is well made by Ha-Joon Chang in “Bad Samaritans” in the Chapter “Lazy Japanese and Thieving Germans – Are some cultures incapable of economic development”?. BTW the “culture of the “religion of Hinduism and Buddhism” which you disparage, last time I noticed there was much of it in China and Japan also. Just visit the temples in Xian and Kamakura. Your point?
yang zi
EAM, I don’t like Buddhism in China either, but it is more practical in China and Japan.
I don’t like confucianism either, I blame it for China’s sorry state in last 200 years. My view is, if not for the suffocating effect of Confucianism on Chinese thought, China should be a much advanced and strong state, that the west had no chance.
I can criticize Chinese culture more harsh than I criticize indian culture. I am just been brutally honest, that’s my true color.
EAM
“but it is more practical in China and Japan” Not sure about this. The Buddhism that dominates in China and Japan is Mahayana Buddhism, the kind of Buddhism that looks most like Hinduism unlike the more austere (and atheistic) Therevada Buddhism in SE ASia and Sri Lanka. The texts used in China such as the Diamond Sutra (in fact the first ever printed book in the world) is an Indian text – not Chinese – though it was Chinese technology that produced the printed version. The religious observanves I have been in China and Japan look little different to what you see in India. (Personally, I should add, I am not big on that kind relgious observance either – whatever the denomination). My point is that looking for explanations in particular cultures may produce little benefit and is apt to mislead. The famous Weber-Tawney thesis on the supposed origins of capitalism in Protestantism is good example – and the theory I think has few takers today.
Mazo
No. Your true color is that you are a shallow, vacant and dumb person who rejects wisdom. Conservationism and Taoism are perhaps the only significant achievements of China’s 2000 years of barbarism and fighting. Yet you reject them!
This shows how regressive the modern Chinese person is, where culture, spirituality and enlightenment are rejected in favor of skyscrapers and a shiny car!
Mazo
Clearly Hinduism and Buddhism to the Chinese Communists like Yangzi is like casting pearls before swine – meaningless.
No wonder Chinese are seen as barbarians by entire East Asia where Buddhism is greatly revered because they understand its significance.
gregorylent
blaming emotional immaturity on religion or politics is escapist.
Harsha
Which Chinese Agency do you work for Mr. Sanjay Kumar ?
S.Jacob
Not a very balanced article. In fact Sanjay Kumar’s article lacks any holistic perspective and blames all the suspicion and problems in the Indo-China relationships on the 1962 war which happened decades ago.
Recent factors like Chinese-Pak nuclear cooperation (when Pakistan has clearly focussed all its military resources on ‘threat’ from India) or the consistent resistance of China to clearly demarcate its boundaries with India (so that as and when it suits China, it can re-define the contours) are all adding to the suspicion.
As long as India is surrounded by neighbours which suppress freedom of opinion and pluralism, there can be no lasting peace with its neighbours. Pakistan is a theocratic state whose constitution starts in the name of ‘allah’, while China is a dictatorial all-party state with no freedom of expression, accompanied by brutal repression to suppress those who ideas do not conform to the Chinese party ideology.
I am not surprised that Harsha has asked Mr. Sanjay Kumar about his being on the payroll of a Chinese agency.
Orrion
I knew when I saw the title for this article, that it would bring out the vitriol from both sides.
In reality, no one enjoys the memory of an humiliation.
China executed such a defeat against India.
The Indian military has taken the lesson to heart by revamping its tactical doctrine.
That being said, the memory still rankles.