Beijing, January 14
In a marked upswing, India-China relations moved to a higher and broader level with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Premier Wen Jiabao today declaring their commitment to more frequent and intensive high-level engagements.

Far from being held back, or down, by the contentious boundary issue, the two leaders agreed to move ahead, and rapidly, in directions that appeared nascent until recently.

The two sides agreeing to hold the second India-China Defence Dialogue and the second Joint Military Training Exercises in 2008 shows new resolve to pursue more robustly the strategic and military dimensions of Sino-Indian relations. Manmohan Singh and Wen pledged to promote cooperation in civil nuclear energy, “consistent with their respective international commitments”; work together in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor; support reform of the United Nations; and, together strive for closer cooperation in, and regional integration of, Asia.

These strides in bilateral cooperation, with their obvious regional and global significance, were the outcomes of the one-on-one meeting between Manmohan Singh and Wen and subsequent talks between the respective delegations at the Great Hall of the People this afternoon.

In their joint statement, ‘A Shared Vision for the 21st Century’, the two leaders affirmed that “India-China relations are not targeted at any country, nor will it affect their friendship with other countries”. It was reiterated that India-China friendship and common development would have “a positive influence on the future of the international system”.

The decision to intensify high-level exchanges will see the Foreign Minister of India visiting China and his Chinese counterpart returning the visit, both in 2008.

While Chairman of the National People’s Congress of China Wu Bangguo is scheduled to visit India this year, the Chinese President will invite President Pratibha Patil to visit in 2009.

The maturing strategic and cooperative partnership has given a big boost to economic relations and the two sides decided to move faster on this track. The bilateral trade target for 2010 has been raised to $ 60 billion and a high-level business leaders’ forum will be set up soon. The eighth meeting of the India-China Joint Economic Group is scheduled for later this year.

As Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon stated at a briefing after the ceremony where the vision statement and 10 other documents were signed, the series of confidence-building measures of recent years have brought about a higher level of confidence and, along with, it higher levels of trust and cooperation. Although this does not mean that problems, such as the boundary question, have gone away, the Indian delegation feels encouraged to assume that the higher level of trust - or at least a reduction of the trust deficit - will make it easier to deal with “difficult issues”, namely the boundary question.

The meeting of the special representatives on the boundary question is scheduled for tomorrow.

In the context of the unresolved legacy of the 1962 war, the forward moves with a stress on the strategic aspects of India-China partnership are considered significant, particularly in the context of regional and global realities. The first defence dialogue was held in Beijing just two months ago and the first joint military training exercise in Kunming only last month. Yet the two sides have agreed to move further in this direction with the second military exercise to be held in India this year.

As important as the emerging defence and civil nuclear cooperation are the declarations on international relations and processes of regional integration. In agreeing to support “comprehensive reform of the United Nations, including giving priority to increasing representation of developing countries in the Security Council”, China is seen as veering around towards explicit support of India’s aspirations for permanent membership of the Security Council.

“The Chinese side attaches great importance to India’s position as a major developing country in international affairs. The Chinese side understands and supports India’s aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations, including in the Security Council”, the joint statement said.

There is also a conspicuous shift in China’s position vis-à-vis India’s role in Asia, given the fact that Beijing had ridiculed India’s regional aspirations and was especially derisive of New Delhi’s ‘Look East’ policy.

The joint statement says: “The two sides positively view each other’s participation in regional processes and agree to strengthen their coordination and consultation within regional mechanisms, including the East Asia summit, to explore together and with other countries a new architecture for closer regional cooperation in Asia, and to make joint efforts for further regional integration of Asia.”

The joint statement, towards the end, reiterates India’s one-China policy and the Chinese appreciation of this position. More significant in this customary reiteration is the omission of the reference to the Tibet Autonomous Region as a part of China.

The reiteration on this occasion would be particularly welcome to Beijing in the context of the pro-China party’s electoral performance in Taiway.