India and China will get an opportunity in December to bring their ties back on the track after the 73-day-long Doklam border crisis, as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit the South Asian country.
Beijing has confirmed that Wang will arrive in New Delhi next month to attend the RIC (Russia-India-China) meeting. On the sidelines of the meeting, he will hold talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and other ministers in New Delhi.
Wang’s visit will be an important one as it will be the first high-level Sino-Indian dialogue after Chinese President Xi Jinping commenced his second term. During the recently held Congress of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), 64-year-old Xi chose a new set of leaders to govern the country for the next five years and Wang is one of them.

Wang Yi

Although Beijing is yet to confirm dates of Wang’s visit, Indian officials believe that the Wang-Swaraj meeting will help normalise the bilateral ties. President Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to take necessary steps to ensure peace in the region when they met on the sidelines of the ninth BRICS Summit in the Chinese port city of Xiamen in September. Indian officials also believe that Wang’s visit will set the tone for President Xi’s policy approach to India in his second term. During his first term (2012-17), relations between the two Asian neighbours were bogged down over Beijing’s ambitious ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) that also includes the controversial USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Interestingly, Wang will visit India two months after American President Donald Trump announced his South Asia policy. President Trump asked Pakistan, considered as China’s close ally in the region, to dismantle the terror safe havens on its soil. Indian defence experts are of the opinion that support from China is also important to fight terrorism, and India and the US should realise this.

Wang Yi & Sushma Swaraj

In recent times, the US has criticised Pakistan for not taking necessary steps against terror outfits. However, the Asian powerhouse maintains cordial ties with Pakistan despite the fact that terrorism has no boundaries. If India and America really want to involve Pakistan in the war against terror, then they need China’s active support. During Wang’s upcoming visit, the top Indian political leadership should invite China to join the war against terror. China’s participation in the war will not only reduce India’s dependence on America, but also help create a balance in Asia.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das