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Fighting terrorism
Debating points |
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India stinking Sixty per cent Indians need toilets THE opening page of Shrilal Shukla’s celebrated novel “Raag Darbari” offers a hilarious graphic description of open defecation in India’s hinterland. V S Naipaul and Ronald Segal have written with great contempt about this dirty practice.
India’s hour of disgrace
The Partition pangs
Tribune special China-India relations have gradually matured after passing through a tortuous course in the past sixty years. There are certain unstable factors in their relations which need to be removed so that mutual trust is steadily enhanced Cheng Ruisheng ON April 1, 1950, India became the first country among non-socialist countries to establish diplomatic relations with New China. From 1950 to 1958, China-India relations witnessed a very friendly period of “honey-moon”, with the slogan of “Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai” resounding across the land of both countries.
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Fighting terrorism
THE deportation of Fasih Mohammed, an operative of the Indian Mujahideen, to India by Saudi Arabia underlines the growing cooperation between the two countries in fighting terrorism. Fasih is accused of being involved in the Chinnaswamy Stadium bomb blast in Bangalore and a shooting incident near Delhi’s Jama Masjid. In June, India had succeeded in arresting Abu Jundal, suspected to have played a major role in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, also because of the cooperation of the Saudies, who deported him to New Delhi. The Saudis, of course, sought all kinds of details to satisfy themselves before taking the necessary action against these terror suspects. But their attitude has been positive, showing it clearly that they are prepared to go to any length in dealing with terrorism in the company of India. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Riyadh in 2010 and the signing of the extradition treaty between the two countries have, no doubt, changed the complexion of the relations between India and Saudi Arabia. But there are other factors also why the Saudis are more inclined towards strengthening their ties with India. One, Saudi Arabia, like India, figures on top of the hit list of international terrorist outfits, including Al-Qaida. Two, the Saudis, being shrewd investors, see in India safe and vast opportunities of foreign direct investment emerging in different areas. Three, Saudi Arabia, along with the US, wants India to do all it can to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapon capability. The Saudis, it seems, are ready to use every available opportunity to recast their relations with India. They appear to be not interested in retaining their image of being pro-Pakistan. The Saudis, no doubt, have sympathies for Pakistan, but when it comes to dealing with terrorism or the Iranian nuclear issue, they are unsparing for Islamabad. They, perhaps, want India to forget their old ties with Pakistan. In any case, there is growing realisation in Riyadh that India must get precedence over all other countries in their scheme of things for South Asia. New Delhi must prepare itself to take advantage of the new thinking in Saudi Arabia, the most influential country in West Asia.
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Debating points
THE world watched as US President Barack Obama and his opponent Governor Mitt Romney sparred in the third and final televised debate held at Boca Raton, Florida, USA, which was broadcast internationally. While the US foreign policy was the focus of the debate, there was no doubt that the candidates would use the occasion to their maximum advantage, and so they did. A feisty Obama scored many blows on a Romney who was trying hard to behave in a “presidential” manner. In such debates, the incumbent suffers from the disadvantage of having to defend his policies, whereas the contender can promise much. On the other hand, Governor Romney also had to show Americans that he could deal with complex foreign policy problems that the next President of the United States would face. Governor Romney’s statements on Russia, Iran and the Middle East were not as nuanced as they could have been, whereas President Obama often defended his administration’s record credibly. Public pronouncements and policies are always different. Even as Governor Romney says that he will label China ‘a currency manipulator’, it will continue to be both an adversary and a potential partner, as President Obama said. Iran’s nuclear ambitions will bedevil much of the western world and the unpredictable effects of the Arab Spring will have to be dealt with. Outsourcing will be attacked politically even as it will be condoned for the savings that come because of it. No matter who becomes the President of the United States, after the November 6 poll, he will have to live with the fact that the US is no longer the superpower that it was. From much time before President Obama’s term, American engagements abroad have failed to deliver measurable gains, whereas they have come at a high economic cost, as well as a significant loss of lives. Realpolitik dictates foreign policies of nations and, therefore, they do not alter drastically with the change of incumbents. Yes, nuances do change, and it is for this very reason that what happens in the US is of concern all over the world.
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India stinking
THE opening page of Shrilal Shukla’s celebrated novel “Raag Darbari” offers a hilarious graphic description of open defecation in India’s hinterland. V S Naipaul and Ronald Segal have written with great contempt about this dirty practice. It is shameful, after 65 years of Independence, that 60 per cent of the “global total” who do not have access to toilets live in India. This large population — about 636 million — is forced to defecate in the open. This makes India the number one country in the world where open defecation is practised at such a large scale. Idonesia with 63 million is a far second! Even if these shocking figures were not given by UNICEF and WHO, anyone who travelled by train in India would have witnessed this shameful act performed close to the tracks early in the mornings. So, what Rural Development and Water and Sanitation Minister Jairam Ramesh says — don’t get married in a house where there is no toilet — if followed, will translate into 60 per cent of India’s population staying single. This would sort out many problems, but will Indians make toilets in their homes? Perhaps, not. Even the better off in rural India, who own TV sets and mobile phones, do not make toilets in their pucca houses. They would rather wait for a government scheme to provide them basic sanitation. Jairam Ramesh intends to rid the country of open defecation within a decade. And to help him achieve this goal, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs increased the amount of money to be spent for household toilets in rural areas from Rs. 4,600 to Rs.10,000. But money alone will not help. People need to be made aware of the link between open defection and diseases like diarrhoea, because almost 10 per cent of all communicable diseases are linked to unsafe water and poor sanitation. Or, perhaps, the minister will need more people like Bindheshwar Pathak, who had started a movement of Sulabh Shuchalayas to offer Indians an alternative to open defecation.
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Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes. — Walt Whitman
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India’s hour of disgrace INDIA'S
younger generation can scarcely comprehend the feelings of humiliation, trauma, shame and anger that prevailed in the immediate aftermath of its diplomatic, military and strategic debacle in the 1962 border conflict with China. Responding to President Sarvepallli Radhakrishnan’s admonition of his “credulity” and “negligence,” Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru acknowledged: “We were getting out of touch with reality in the modern world and living in an artificial atmosphere of our own making”. Nehru had proclaimed in 1959 to the Congress party that the Chinese were “unlikely” to invade India because they knew that this would lead to a “world war”. He believed that a China faced with a growing rift with the Soviet Union and at odds with the United States would just not go to war with India. What followed was a disastrous “forward policy” of deploying poorly equipped troops in forward positions to contest Chinese claims despite logistical and operational reservations expressed by then Army Chief General Thimayya and other senior operational commanders. This policy sought to give credibility to a claim in Parliament that “not an inch of Indian territory” would be left undefended. Having raised expectations publicly, the Prime Minister put himself in an untenable position of not being able to negotiate on suggestions by Chinese Prime Minister Chou en Lai, involving Chinese acceptance of the McMahon Line in Arunachal Pradesh (then called NEFA), in return for China diluting its claims in the western sector (Ladakh). Taking any Chinese suggestion on its border claims at face value could, however, have been hazardous, as China’s claims continued to change repeatedly, as they do, even to this day. Compounding the diplomatic bungling and the incredible naiveté in believing that China would never attack India was the erratic and arrogant behaviour of the then Defence Minister V.K. Krishna Menon. The Defence Minister made it a habit of speaking disparagingly to senior military officials, who dared to disagree with him. He was also given to acting arbitrarily and whimsically on issues like the appointment of Lt.-General B.M. Kaul, an officer of the Army Supply Corps, with no combat experience, as the Corps Commander of the newly established IV Corps in Tezpur, to “throw the Chinese out” in the eastern sector. Not only was the formal chain of command bypassed, but Kaul was allowed to continue commanding active operations from his sick bed in New Delhi. After initial setbacks near the McMahon Line India’s defences collapsed totally on November 19, with the elite 4th Infantry Division beating an ignominious retreat. India’s hour of shame was, however, not over. As Indian defences in the Eastern Sector collapsed on November 19, panic-stricken Prime Minister Nehru wrote to President Kennedy seeking American air support by 12 squadrons of supersonic fighters, with radar cover, all operated by US pilots. India’s proud claims to nonalignment lay in tatters. The Chinese had, however, planned their diplomacy and military operations brilliantly. A few months before the conflict commenced, the Chinese Ambassador had learnt in secret negotiations in Warsaw with the Americans that in the event of border tensions with India, the United States would not get directly involved. With the Sino-Indian conflict coinciding with the Cuban missile crisis, the Chinese compelled the Soviet Union to initially remain neutral. It soon became clear that rather than helping out, the Americans and the British were demanding that India should resolve differences over Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan. It was the Soviet Union that moved meaningfully to help India bolster its defences. The Chinese, however, learned following incursions in 1967 in Nathu La in the Sikkim sector and in Wangdung in Arunachal Pradesh in 1986 that India was prepared militarily and diplomatically to respond to challenges they posed to its security. In half a century since 1962, China has significantly bolstered its defences on Tibet’s borders with India. Apart from developing impressive road and rail communications, China has deployed 2,20,000 troops in the Lanzhou military region bordering Ladakh, including airborne and motorised divisions. Another 1,80,000 troops are deployed in the Chengdu military region facing our north-eastern states. Beijing has also been augmenting capabilities and training for high altitude warfare. Frontline J 10 aircraft (an Israeli designed variant of the F 16) have been carrying out exercises over high Himalayan peaks. Militarily, the main lesson of 1962 is the need for Indian conventional capabilities along our borders with China which persuade the Chinese that future conflicts will not remain confined to the Indian side of the border. It remains to be seen if the faint-hearted in South Block will endorse such a strategy. China has vastly expanded its “comprehensive national power” since the 1962 conflict; it has the second largest economy in the world and has made remarkable strides in areas ranging from space to cyber warfare. But it faces serious internal tensions caused by the inherent contradictions of having a relatively free market economy on the one hand and a closed one-party political system, which is becoming increasingly corrupt, on the other. The Han Chinese have historically been extremely chauvinist. The political and military leadership is now pandering to such chauvinism, by stridently asserting maritime boundary claims on virtually all its neighbours and enhancing claims on the land border with India. China is continuing nuclear weapons, missile and defence collaboration with Pakistan and its efforts to enhance its role in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. It has persistently moved to undermine India’s “Look East” policy by efforts like seeking to block India’s entry into the East Asia Summit. It has behaved none too subtly in attempting to prevent the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) from giving India a waiver on nuclear cooperation. Its ambivalence on India’s quest for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council continues. These are all an integral part of a policy of “strategic containment” of India. There is virtually no awareness of the security implications of China’s growing role in key sectors of India’s economy like power and communications and of the dangers posed by the domination in these sectors by Chinese companies like Huawei or ZTE. India has, therefore, to combine pro-active diplomacy and build up its offensive military capabilities along its borders with China by also formulating and implementing measures to achieve substantial indigenisation in key sectors like power and communications. Moreover, if the present policies continue, our imports of electronic and communication equipment will exceed our imports of oil and natural gas by 2020. A serious effort has to be made to enable our public and private sectors to develop capabilities comparable to those developed by the Chinese in these strategic sectors of the
economy.
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The Partition pangs It relates to the years when I was a school-going boy of 10-12 years. Adjacent to the playground, where we used to play, one very affluent and rich family lived which had a big luxury car, parked usually in front of their house. It was naturally a target of our envious feelings. We were always looking for a chance to be near that piece that we used to call ‘SHEVERLETT’; of course, it is Chevrolet of today. At that time we used to call any large car as ‘IMPALA’ or ‘SHEVERLETT’. We always tried to touch it, peep into its beautifully crafted interior. One day as we were peeping into that from its shut window screens, a burly figure, perhaps the chauffeur, came out and hurled all possible abuses at us and warned not to touch that car again.”Yeh car tumhare baap ki nahin hai”. (This car does not belong to your father.) were his words. Just for a moment I felt bad but certainly not for too long as my heart consoled me and I said to myself that one day, if not today, such a car can be mine. With the grace of God the days are here. In 1985, my father had to unceremoniously vacate his chair and position of principal of a degree college. The chair used to tease me initially as it no longer belonged to my father. Everyone seemed to be telling me, “Yeh kursi ab tere baap ki nahin hai” (This chair no more belongs to your father). I never got perturbed with such feelings as I had belief in my father’s capabilities and trust in God to get even a better position and placement which he deservingly got. A couple of years back, I along with my father visited the Wagah border post near Amritsar. The blend of ecstasy and uneasy anxiety was writ large on my and my father’s emotions. The security person warned us not to touch or go beyond the white line which separated the identities of the two nations. This time it was my heart which echoed those harsh words. I said to myself, “Voh zamin ab tere baap ki nahin hai” (That land no more belongs to my father). I told the security personnel that the soil beyond that white line once belonged to my father. “Yeh mere baap ki hi thee”. (He is a migrant from Pakistan). The security personnel laughed my remark away and told me in a very courteous yet candid manner that now it can’t be his. This time the uttering of those security personnel, although said in a very light and casual way, deeply pierced through both of us. We returned home with a bit of heavy heart and disappointment, which, of course, comes very rare. My father, who often narrates stories of pre-Partition times — of the haveli, the neighbours, the school, the Muslim friends — got deeply engrossed in his own thoughts. Perhaps, he in his thoughts crossed that white line and was once again with his school friends in his haveli. No security person seemed to have come in his way this time. I also did not want to disturb him. The moment he came out of his “dreams” he asked me to play his favourite song from J.P. Dutta’s “Refugee” “Panchi nadiya pawan ke jhonke, koi sarhad nan inhe roke” by Javed Akhtar. Finding my father in such an emotional state, I asked to myself, “Can’t I get that part which once belonged to my father back to him?” My heart, my belief, my faith and confidence did not seem to be supporting me this time. I, sans my belief, trust and conviction, deeply felt disappointed in one niche of my heart. I knew life would be in its routine rhythm after sometime; still the heart sank and simmered somewhere, ratifying what people of my generation usually come across but only in literary writings. I stood there helplessly, experiencing live the pangs of Partition in every wrinkle on the face of my
father.
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Tribune special China-India relations have gradually matured after passing through a tortuous course in the past sixty years. There are certain unstable factors in their relations which need to be removed so that mutual trust is steadily enhanced Cheng Ruisheng
ON April 1, 1950, India became the first country among non-socialist countries to establish diplomatic relations with New China. From 1950 to 1958, China-India relations witnessed a very friendly period of “honey-moon”, with the slogan of “Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai” resounding across the land of both countries. However, it was indeed very unfortunate that China-India relations sharply deteriorated after 1959 owing to their differences on the Tibet question and China-India boundary question and under the influence of a number of complicated factors, both international and internal, leading to the border conflict in 1962 and confrontation between the two countries for more than ten years. Since 1976, China-India relations have gradually improved. In 1988, the visit of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to China became a major turning point for China-India relations, which entered a new period of overall restoration and development after that, with only a short setback in 1998 after India’s nuclear tests. With the beginning of the new century, a rapid development of China-India relations was achieved and a Strategic and Cooperative Partnership was established in 2005. In general, India is one of China’s neighbours whose relations with China witnessed big ups and downs after the founding of New China. It will be very beneficial to sum up some experiences and enlightenments from the tortuous course of China-India relations.
Harmony is precious Through reviewing the history of sixty years of diplomatic relations between China and India and making comparisons of those different periods of friendship, confrontation and renewal of friendship, a conclusion of incomparable importance for both governments and peoples could be obtained, i.e. harmony is precious.
nFriendly relations between China and India from 1950 to 1958 brought out great gains, either from the angle of peaceful construction of both countries or from the angle of safeguarding peace in Asia and the world. (1) During Premier Zhou Enlai’s visit to India in 1954, both sides fixed the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence as guiding principles for China-India relations. At the end of that year, Indian Prime Minister Nehru paid a visit to China, holding very good talks with Chairman Mao Tzedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. In 1956, Premier Zhou Enlai paid another visit to India. All these events led to a high tide of friendship between China and India which had been unprecedented in the history. It was during this period that India gave up its special privileges in Tibet. (2) China-India friendly relations were conducive to creating a peaceful environment necessary for the peaceful construction of both countries, which had won independence not yet long before. (3) Maintaining friendly relations with both India and Pakistan, China adopted a neutral stand on the Kashmir question. It was shown that China-India relations were helpful to safeguarding peace and stability in South Asia. (4) China and India had very good cooperation in international affairs. Take the Bandung Conference in 1955 as an example. Before the conference, both India and Burma (now Myanma) took a firm stand that China should take part in the conference. And at the conference, Nehru made a number of efforts to support Zhou Enlai, giving a helping hand to New China which had just ascended the international stage. nIn sharp contrast to the above period, the deterioration of China-India relations and the confrontation between the two countries from 1959 to 1976 caused enormous losses.
1. The China-India border conflict in 1962 brought about serious damage to the friendship between the Chinese and Indian peoples and a long-term suspension of friendly exchanges between the two countries. The shadow of this conflict has not fully vanished even today.. 2. The long-term confrontation between the two countries caused great drain on the resources of both countries, negatively affecting peaceful development of both countries. 3. Along with the deterioration of China-India relations, relations between China and Pakistan were rapidly strengthened, with the result that India had to face a two-front unfavorable strategic environment. And due to the continued improvement of relations between India and the Soviet Union and the formation of an alliance between them, China, whose relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated at that time, also had to face a two-front disadvantageous strategic environment. After the U.S. President Nixon’s visit to China in 1972, there emerged in South Asia the confrontation between China, Pakistan and the United States on the one side and India and the Soviet Union on the other side, giving rise to a serious threat to peace in Asia and the world. nSince 1976, China-India relations were gradually restored and improved and witnessed greater development in this new century, producing very encouraging “bonus”. (1) Both China and India are two neighbouring countries on a fast rise among newly emerging countries. The friendly cooperation between the two countries would offer an indispensable and important guarantee to their peaceful rise. (2) With the swift development of trade and economic relations between China and India, China has become one of the biggest trade partners of India. Since both China and India have quite similar national conditions, they could learn from each other’s strong points to offset their own weaknesses in the fields of economic and social development. It is well known that China’s hardware and India’s software have mutual complementarity. (3) China has developed friendly relations with both India and Pakistan in a separate way, while trilateral relations between China, India and the United States have maintained a general balance. These are conducive to stability in South Asia. (4) Both China and India have common stands on a number of major international questions. With both countries taking part in more and more regional and international regimes, they support each other on many important questions such as the climate change. It can be seen from the above comparison that it is not an empty talk that China-India friendly relations are in conformity with the fundamental interests of the two peoples. That harmony is precious has more and more become a common understanding of both governments and peoples.
Strategic partnership The policy of good-neighborliness and friendship adopted by both China and India towards each other at present has its rich and important connotation. 1. Both sides, viewing China-India relations as one of their most important bilateral relations, have raised the level of their relations higher and higher. In 2005, both sides announced that they agreed to establish a China-India Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. This should be the fundamental starting point for both sides to deal with various specific questions between the two countries. 2. Both sides have reaffirmed in official documents that the common interests of both countries outweigh their differences and the two countries are not a threat to each other. Both sides have decided to settle their differences through peaceful and friendly consultations, without using or threatening to use force against each other. In view of the armed conflict between the two countries in 1962, this policy adopted by both sides has very important significance. 3. On the China-India boundary question, both sides have agreed to a policy of seeking a political settlement and have undertaken that while seeking ways and means to settle the boundary question, both sides would develop their relations actively in other fields. Both sides have also agreed that pending an ultimate settlement of the boundary question, the two sides should strictly respect and observe the line of actual control and work together to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas. 4. India has readjusted its original stand of recognizing Tibet as an “autonomous region” of China to the present stand of recognizing that “the Tibet Autonomous Region is part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China” and has undertaken that it does not allow Tibetans to engage in anti-China political activities in India. China has recognized Sikkim to be part of India’s territory. 5. Both sides have adopted a policy of actively promoting friendly exchanges in all fields, so that friendly exchanges between the governments, political parties, parliaments, armed forces, industrial and commercial circles, cultural circles, youths and civil organizations of the two countries have continuously increased. Both sides have attached much importance to their trade and economic cooperation, with the result that trade and economic relations have witnessed a swift development. 6. China has adopted a policy of developing friendly relations with India on the one hand, and with Pakistan and other South Asian countries on the other in a separate way and has expressed its desire that South Asian countries could be friendly with each other. China has tried hard to persuade the relevant parties to become reconciled when conflicts occur between India and Pakistan or between India and other South Asian countries. This policy of China is conducive to peace and stability in South Asia. However, up to now, a small number of people in India still consider that it is for “encircling” and “containing” India that China has been developing its relations with Pakistan and other South Asian countries. What is the truth? It has already been more than twenty years since China adopted the above policy. What people can see is that China-India relations have been greatly improved and developed in this period and can not find any kind of “encircling” and “containing” India by China. Perhaps some friends in India are still worried. Then the best way is to continue their watching on this question. 7. In recent years, India’s diplomatic strategy has shown a certain degree of inclination towards the United States. However, India has still adhered to its policy of friendship with China, with the result that a general balance has been maintained in the trilateral relations between China, India and the United States.
The inadequacy of mutual trust between China and India has been mainly revealed through the fact that the “China threat” theory has been on rise again in India in recent years. There are a number of factors leading to the inadequacy of mutual trust between China and India. Some are the questions left over from history while some are related to real politics. Thus the situation has been quite complicated. The first factor is that no major breakthrough has been achieved on the China-India boundary question. Since 2003, a number of rounds of talks have already been held by the Special Representatives of the two governments. During Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to India in April 2005, both governments signed the Agreement on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the China-India Boundary Question, thus laying a good foundation for both sides to realize the final solution of the boundary question. However, owing to the complicated nature of this question, it seems that there is still some difficulty to reach the final settlement. Since the impact of the 1962 border conflict between the two countries has not fully vanished, the Indian side still has considerable apprehension about China on the boundary question. The second factor is that the economic gap between China and India has been widening. In recent years, both China and India have achieved quite fast economic growth, but China’s rate of growth has been higher than that of India, with the result that the economic gap between the two countries has been widening to some extent. Since India has all along had a quite strong motive of competing with China, it seems India has some worry over this question. The third factor is the influence of geopolitics. Along with the development of China-India relations, the impact of geopolitical factors on China-India relations has been reduced gradually. However, these factors still play a role to some degree. India still has some apprehension on China’s relations with India’s neighbours, while China has also its concern on India’s military and security cooperation with countries like the United States and Japan. The above factors are interwoven together instead of being isolated with each other, leading to a rather complicated situation. Therefore, time and patience are needed. At the same time it is advisable that both sides would attach much importance to this question and make more efforts to enhance their mutual trust in an active way. In accordance with the situation of China-India relations and with reference to historical experiences of China’s relations with some other countries, if both sides could make greater efforts in the following three areas, it would play an important role in enhancing mutual trust between the two sides. 1. Judging from the situation in recent years, mutual visits and meetings in third countries between leaders of China and India could play a vital role in promoting the mutual trust between the two countries. Leaders at the highest level of both countries have cherished very much these opportunities of personal contacts and conducted in-depth exchange of views, from a strategic altitude, on ways and means to further develop relations between the two countries, offering some new thoughts and proposals and publishing some very important documents which have much significance in guiding the relations between the two countries, so that greater impetus has been given to the development of relations between the two countries. These mutual visits and meetings have also shown outstanding effects in dispelling the dark clouds which might appear sometimes in the sky of China-India friendship and promoting the confidence of both peoples in the future of their friendly relations. 2. The final settlement of China-India boundary question will be the most important key to greatly enhancing mutual trust between the two countries. Judging from the present situation of China-India relations, it seems conditions are already mature for the final settlement. 3. Both sides could also take more active steps to support each other on questions involving core interests of the other side. This would fully reflect the practical significance of their Strategic and Cooperative Partnership and play an important role in promoting mutual trust. The situation in recent years has indicated that both sides have taken a number of steps in this respect with good effects. The main steps taken by the Indian side in support of China are: recognizing Tibet as part of China’s territory; taking resolute measures so that the Olympic torch passed through New Delhi successfully in April 2008. The main steps taken by the Chinese side in support of India are : recognizing Sikkim as part of India’s territory; making positive remarks on India’s desire to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council; taking a flexible attitude so that the resolution to lift nuclear embargo against India could be passed by the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Since both China and India are large countries very active in international arena, both sides could find a number of problems on which mutual support is needed in the future. If both sides could give more and more support to each other, the mutual trust between the two sides would certainly be greatly enhanced. The writer is China’s former Ambassador to India
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