India and China had relatively little modern political contact before the
1950's. However, both countries have had extensive and close historical cultural
contact since the 1st century, especially with the transmission of Buddhism
from India to China. Trade relations via the Silk Road acted as economic
contact between the two regions.
China and India have also had some contact before the transmission of
Buddhism. References to a people called the Chinas, now believed to be the
Chinese, are found in ancient Indian literature. The Indian epic Mahabharata
(c. 5th century BC) contains references to "China", which may have
been referring to the Qin state which later became the Qin Dynasty. Chanakya
(c. 350-283 BC), the prime minister of the Maurya Empire and a professor at
Takshashila University, refers to Chinese silk as "cinamsuka"
(Chinese silk dress) and "cinapatta" (Chinese silk bundle) in his
Arthashastra.
In the Records of the Grand Historian, Zhang Qian (d. 113 BC) and Sima
Qian (145-90 BC) make references to "Shendu", which may have been
referring to the Indus Valley (the Sindh province in modern Pakistan),
originally known as "Sindhu" in Sanskrit. When Yunnan was annexed by
the Han Dynasty in the 1st century, Chinese authorities reported an Indian
"Shendu" community living there.
After the transmission of Buddhism from India to China from the 1st
century onwards, many Indian scholars and monks travelled to China, such as
Batuo (fl. 464-495 AD)—founder of the Shaolin Monastery—and Bodhi
Dharma—founder of Chan/Zen Buddhism—while many Chinese scholars and monks also
travelled to India, such as Xuanzang (b. 604) and I Ching (635-713), both of
whom were students at Nalanda University in Bihar. Xuanzang wrote the Great
Tang Records on the Western Regions, an account of his journey to India, which
later inspired Wu Cheng'en's Ming Dynasty novel Journey to the West, one of the
Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literatures.
After independence Jawaharlal Nehru vision of "resurgent Asia" on friendship between the two largest states of Asia, his vision of an internationalist foreign policy governed by the ethics of the Panchsheel, which he initially believed was shared by China, came to grief when it became clear that the two countries had a conflict of interest in Tibet.
1962 Border disputes resulted in a short border war between the People's
Republic of China (PRC) and India in 20 October 1962. The PRC pushed the unprepared
and inadequately led Indian forces to within forty-eight kilometers of the
Assam plains in the northeast and occupied strategic points in Ladakh, until
the PRC declared a unilateral cease-fire on 21 November and withdrew twenty
kilometers behind its contended line of control.
Relations between the PRC and India deteriorated during the rest of the
1960s and the early 1970s as Sino-Pakistani relations improved and Sino-Soviet
relations worsened. The PRC backed Pakistan in its 1965 war with India. Between
1967 and 1971, an all-weather road was built across territory claimed by India,
linking PRC's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region with Pakistan; India could do
no more than protest.
Two territories are currently
disputed between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and India: Aksai Chin and
Arunachal Pradesh. Arunachal Pradesh is located near the far east of India,
while Aksai Chin is located near the north-west corner of India, at the junction
of India, Pakistan, and the PRC. However, all sides in the dispute have agreed
to respect the Line of Actual Control and this border dispute is not widely
seen as a major flashpoint.
However the Chinese neighbours are most unreliable and their actions most
often are in contrary to their statements. The facts produced hereunder will
reveal the same.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao paid an official visit to India from
Dec.15-17, 2010 at the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. His
statement at Tagore International school :-
“India and China are two very populous countries with ancient
civilisations, friendship between the two countries has a time- honoured
history, which can be dated back 2,000 years, and since the establishment of
diplomatic ties between our two countries, in particular the last ten years,
friendship and cooperation has made significant progress.”
In April 2011, during the BRICS summit in Sanya, Hainan, China the two
countries agreed to restore defence co-operation and China had hinted that it
may reverse its policy of administering stapled visas to residents of Jammu and
Kashmir. This practice was later stopped, and as a result, defence ties were
resumed between the two nations and joint military drills were expected.
In the 2012 BRICS summit in New Delhi, India, Chinese President Hu Jintao
told Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that "it is China's unswerving
policy to develop Sino-Indian friendship, deepen strategic cooperation and seek
common development" and "China hopes to see a peaceful, prosperous
and continually developing India and is committed to building more dynamic
China-India relationship". Other topics were discussed, including border
dispute problems and a unified BRICS central bank.
A three-week stand off between Indian and Chinese troops in close
proximity to each other and the Line of Actual Control between Jammu and
Kashmir's Ladakh region and Aksai Chin was defused on May 5, 2013, days before
a trip by Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid to China; Khurshid said that
both countries had a shared interest in not having the border issue exacerbate
or "destroy" long-term progress in relations. The Chinese agreed to
withdraw their troops in exchange for an Indian agreement to demolish several
"live-in bunkers" 250 km to the south in the disputed Chumar sector.
M. Taylor Fravel, a professor of political science at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and an expert on China’s border issues, said that China
might be responding to local concerns about Indian military construction in the
disputed area.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang after officially taking his office in March,
made his first foreign visit to India on 18 May 2013 in a bid to resolve border
disputes and to stimulate economic relations.
Eight items were agreed upon by the two nations and officially signed by
Singh and Li after a session of delegation-level talks.
1. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of the Tibet Autonomous Region of
the People's Republic of China, regarding the famous Hindu tradition of Kailash
Manasarovar Yatra, the annual pilgrimage to Lake Manasarovar . Both countries
agreed to plan the pilgrimage every year during May and September. The route to
reach Manasarovar from India had been previously blocked off for several years
after China took control of Tibet. Now, the Chinese agreed to improve routes to
the lake for Indians travelling to the site, as well as provide assistance in
setting up communication systems in the form of renting wireless sets and phone SIM cards for the mass of travellers.
2. To enhance trade, both sides decided to set up three working groups
under the Joint Economic Group: the Services Trade Promotion Working Group,
Economic and Trade Planning Cooperation and Trade Statistical Analysis. This
was signed by India’s Minister of Commerce, Industry & Textiles Anand Sharma
and China’s Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng.
3. An MOU between Export promotion organisations of India ( APEDA, MPEDA
and Export Inspection Council of India)
falling under Commerce ministry and
China’s General Administration of Quality supervision , Inspection and
Quarantine, in effort to strengthen
mutual cooperation in the trade and safety of buffalo meat, fishery products,
feed products and feed ingredients, the two nations agreed to meet the
standards and regulatory requirements of several agricultural and seafood
product groups.
4. An MOU was signed to enhance cooperation in sewage treatment by
India’s Ministry of Urban Development and the National Development and Reform
Commission of China. Aims at enhancing, cooperation in the field of Sewage
Treatment and experience sharing in the areas of mutual interest in the urban
sectors.
5. The Ministry of Water Resources in India and China’s National
Development and Reform Commission signed a memorandum on cooperation for
efficient irrigation. The agreement will encourage bilateral cooperation and
exchange of efficient water technology to help boost agriculture in both
nations.
6. India’s Ministry of External Affairs and China’s infamous State
Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (the entity in
charge of censoring works of art) came to an agreement on the mutual
translation and publication of classic and contemporary works. The deal will
create a joint working group that will be responsible for translating and
publishing 25 books of each nation in the other respective language over a
period of five years.
7. China has agreed to provide India with vital information regarding the
water levels, discharge and rainfall levels of the Brahmaputra River, where
there are three hydrological stations, twice a day at 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM Beijing time during the June 1 to Oct. 15 time period.
8. An agreement was signed by India’s Ministry of External Affairs and
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that will facilitate cooperation between
Indian and Chinese cities. The memorandum establishes sister states/provinces
between the two nations allowing the two nations to build relationships of
mutual interest and improve greater people to people contacts.
Kailash Manasarovar Yatra is known for its religious value, cultural
significance, physical beauty and thrilling nature. It is undertaken by
hundreds of people every year. Holding significance for the Hindus as the abode
of Lord Shiva, it holds religious importance also for the Jains and the
Buddhists. The Yatra starts at 9,500 feet and involves trekking at
high altitudes of up to 19,500 feet, under inhospitable conditions, including
extreme cold and rugged terrain, and proves hazardous to those who are not
physically and medically fit. Therefore, this Yatra demands medical facilities
and full support from the authorities of both counties. The Yatra is open to eligible Indian citizens,
holding valid Indian passports, who wish to proceed to Kailash-Manasarovar for
religious purposes. The Government of
India previously did not take any responsibility in any manner for any loss of
life or injury to a pilgrim Yatri, or any loss or damage to property of a Yatri
due to any natural calamity or due to any other reason. Pilgrims were to
undertake this Yatra purely at their own volition, cost, risk and consequences.
The Government also did not took any obligation to bring the mortal remains of
any pilgrim across the border for cremation in the Indian side, in case of
death on the Chinese side. All Yatris were, therefore, required to sign a
Consent Form for cremation of mortal remains on the Chinese side in case of
death. This position still remains the same and there is no clarification from
either side about the means and manners in which both the Govt. will assist the pilgrimage. There is only a vague clause in the pact that
the Chinese authorities will make further improvements to the existing
facilities on the route of the pilgrims.
In contrary to its neighbour’s policy, India is eyeing to China's fast
expanding outbound tourism market, which has, so far, largely bypassed India. The
Indian government has launched a tourism campaign targeting the world's
fastest-growing Buddhist population with a direct sales pitch: visit India and
reconnect with your faith. Indian officials hope that promoting the ‘Buddhist
circuit train' in China, which has been in operation since 2007 and stops along
several pilgrimage sites in northern India, can help boost the low numbers of
Chinese tourists who travel to India. They have begun marketing the train in
China as a way for Chinese to reconnect with their faith, but “in comfort.” The
train takes travellers, over the course of a week, to several cities associated
with the Buddha's life. Starting in New Delhi, the ‘Mahaparinirvan Express'
stops at places such as Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Varanasi, Sarnath,
Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Lumbini the Buddha's birthplace and Sravasti in
Nepal. The train, which was introduced
in 2007, has tariffs ranging from Rs.7,500 to Rs.34,000. In Beijing, Mr. Tandon, managing director of
the IRCTC, in Nov 2011, told an audience of Chinese tour operators and travel
agents that the success of trains focused on pilgrimage sites had prompted the
Indian Railways to launch another special train service next month, starting
from Chandigarh, focusing on important Sikh temples in India.
Several luxurious hotels and restaurants, luxurious Buses & Taxies, items used by Chinese and
Buddhist people, Web sites, Tourist information Centre, books and guides are
made available for the Traveller of all
Buddhist countries from the Government of India and the Private Tour
Operators to make religious travellers and Yatri’s feel at home and comfortable
in India.
Srikanth Kondapalli, a professor of Chinese studies at Jawaharlal Nehru
University in New Delhi, said that India had so far gotten little of value out
of the visit, including no reassurance about the border. “My assessment is that
China has gained more from these meetings than India,” he said. “The Chinese
side conceded nothing.”
One measure of the continuing unease between the world’s two most
populous nations is that their leaders will almost immediately visit the
other’s rival. Mr. Li is scheduled to fly to Pakistan on Wednesday, and Mr.
Manmohan Singh will go to Tokyo next week. Mr. Li could announce a civil
nuclear deal with Pakistan when he visits Islamabad, an arrangement that India
is unlikely to welcome.
The current agreements seemed
unlikely to halt India’s growing concerns about its increasingly powerful eastern
neighbour. The present government is fairly introspective, has little appetite
for grand international gestures and has begun to limit its expansive military
spending. But the Indian military leaders, both retired and active, have begun
to insist that the nation pay less attention to Pakistan, its historic and
increasingly irrelevant rival, and more to China. There is a growing concern
throughout the country about the Chinese intentions and high handed ways of its
rulers. China has grown increasingly assertive in the South China Sea and has
been building ports in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. China’s ports, referred to as “a
string of pearls,” have alarmed India and unnerved the United States as well.
