Cooperation, not competition

Wen Jiabao and Dr. Manmohan Singh.

On December 15, Chinese PM Wen Jiabao began a three-day official visit to India to boost trade between the two Asian giants, whose relationship has been dogged by mutual distrust since they fought a brief border war in 1962.
This visit of the prime minister aims to strengthen ties and put their history of animosity behind them.
On January 13, 2008, India's Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh paid an official for three days to China to boost relations with its neighbour. He met with both President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. The Indian leader called engagement with China an "imperative necessity."
In July 2010, National Security Adviser and former Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon travelled to Beijing on a three-day visit. In a brief statement, the external affairs ministry announced that he had been designated as "Special Envoy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh."
Wen Jiabao -- who last visited India five years ago -- brings with him one of the largest teams of Chinese business leaders ever to visit India, about 400 of them.
The number dwarfs that of business persons taken to India by US President Barack Obama (215), French President Nicolas Sarkozy (more than 60) and British Prime Minister David Cameron (about 40).
Wen's trip began with a visit to a school to discuss Chinese culture, a week after the Indian government introduced Mandarin to the school syllabus.
On December 15 the Chinese prime minister said in New Delhi: "There is enough space in the world for the development of China and India and enough areas for us both to cooperate."
The visit has provided India an opportunity to discuss with China a wide range of issues, including UN reforms, regional dialogue and global issues such as climate change, energy security and counter-terrorism.
The Chinese premier held talks with his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and the ruling Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi.
Dr. Singh responded in kind to Wen's effusive words before they went into a meeting behind closed doors: "A strong partnership between India and China will contribute to long-term peace, stability, prosperity and development in Asia and the world."
China reiterated its support for India's aspirations to play a greater role in the Security Council, but stopped short of expressing full backing for India, which President Obama gave.
The two sides decided to establish a mechanism of regular exchange of visits between heads of state and government. They welcomed the opening of the telephone hotline between the prime minister of India and the Chinese premier and agreed on regular consultations between the two leaders on issues of importance to both countries.
India's growing consumer market, skilled human resources, and software excellence, with China's own market, its manufacturing capacity and cost effectiveness provide the platform for cooperation
China is India's largest trading partner -- two-way trade volumes are set to hit $60 billion this fiscal year. Both sides agreed to raise bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2015. The two sides agreed to take measures to promote more Indian exports to China and to reduce India's trade deficit.
During the visit, about 50 agreements were signed on bilateral cooperation in areas such as infrastructure, energy, food, steel, IT, telecommunication and climate change.
Companies have already signed business deals worth $16 billion. Chinese telecommunication company, Huawei, planned to spend $2 billion to expand its operations in India, and Reliance ADA Group will receive $3 billion from Chinese banks, much of which will be used to buy Chinese goods. Deals also were made between Chinese food manufacturers and Indian fish farms, and between Chinese textile companies and Indian yarn makers.
Total investment by China in India is small, amounting to only $221 million in 2009, representing about 0.1 percent of China's total outward foreign direct investment in that year. That figure is seven times less than what China has invested in Pakistan, according to official data.
Despite strengthening close economic relations, tensions between them remain. China and India have a contested border that runs 3,500 kilometres. India argues that China occupies 38,000 square kilometres (14,670 square miles) of its territory in the west, while Beijing claims the whole of the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which is 90,000 square kilometers in area.
There has been steady progress on the boundary talks and the two sides are "determined" to uphold a 1993 frontier peace accord. They agreed to make renewed efforts to resolve the Himalayan border dispute over which they fought a brief war in 1962.
However, Beijing complained in 2009 about visits by the Indian prime minister and exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in full.
China is strongly critical of India for granting residence to the Dalai Lama. Last August, India cancelled defence exchanges after China refused a visa to a Kashmir-based general of the Indian army. Last year, India protested against the Chinese practice of issuing visas to Kashmiris on separate pieces of paper. China reportedly gave no explanation for the move.
China's envoy to India, Zhang Yan, told reporters ahead of Wen's visit: "Relations are very fragile, very easy to damage and very difficult to repair. Therefore they need special care in the information age."
Beijing fears India's deepening ties with the US are a move to contain China, while New Delhi perceives Beijing's increasing influence on Myanmar and Pakistan as a threat to its backyard.
Although both countries plan to increase economic cooperation, the visit made little progress on geopolitical differences over Pakistan, terrorism and disputed border. The Chinese prime minister left for Pakistan for his two-day visit from New Delhi.

Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.