India Must ‘De-Hyphenate’ From Pakistan Like China Did From Taiwan

Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim
Video Producer: Sonal Gupta
Graphic: Aroop Mishra
Cameraperson: Nitin Chopra

In the late 1940s, India and China won independence from colonial rule. While the trajectories of their respective freedom movements were quite different, there was one remarkable similarity. Both broke up into two enemy nations apiece, China/Taiwan and India/Pakistan.

For seven decades now, these pairs of estranged siblings have stayed implacable foes. But as China closed in on Superpower status, it de-hyphenated from Taiwan without lessening its hostility. China is now America’s global rival, not Taiwan’s principal adversary. Unfortunately, India has remained fixated on Pakistan, even as our economic heft has multiplied manifold.

This must change.

A country’s standing in world affairs is defined by who its primary competitors are. India must raise its gaze from Pakistan, without lessening its chokehold, yet diminishing the high-pitched/overt importance we give it in our foreign policy narrative.

In fact, it’s time to move out of the emotional ravines of history.

For all our economic engagement, there is surprisingly little contact between ordinary Chinese and Indian citizens. Our populations remain deeply suspicious of one another, locked into media-fueled stereotypes; according to a 2016 Pew Survey, only 26 percent of Chinese expressed a favourable view of India – down seven points from 2006 – with more than 60 percent holding a negative view. Indians, for their part, don’t trust China’s economic or strategic intentions.

A parallel 2016 Pew survey found that only 31 percent of Indians had a favourable view of China, with nearly 70 percent citing both Chinese military power and its territorial incursions as a ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ serious problem for India.

But in many ways, India's engagement with China – as with the US – has deepened and matured in recent years. The two countries have signed bilateral agreements on everything from cultural exchanges to joint military patrols.

In 2016, they even staged their first joint army exercises in Jammu and Kashmir, which focused on humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and counter-terrorism operations but also were clearly designed to foster trust along the border.

China & India Do Have Common Ground

China and India also see eye-to-eye on several geopolitical issues. As recently emerged economies far from the centres of Western power, India and China share a basic disillusionment with the Bretton Woods institutions that have shaped global economics since the end of World War II. That has led to collaboration on creating such alternatives as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB).

We have also found common ground on environmental issues, whether it's sharing oceanic and atmospheric research or holding the developed world to a higher standard in reducing greenhouse gases. We’ve even collaborated at the Paris climate accord.

India Should Be a Part of The OBOR

I also have a contrarian view: I believe India should be part of the One-Belt-One-Road or OBOR or BRI initiative. Otherwise, we risk growing stagnant and isolated in an increasingly connected Asia; with it, India can overhaul its woeful infrastructure, create jobs, and explore vital new trade avenues in China and South Asia.

Beijing has already indicated it is open to making concessions on OBOR through Pak-Occupied Kashmir. Elsewhere, we should push to ‘co-brand’ OBOR, becoming an official sponsor of the initiative in our neck of the woods. Of course, we should negotiate hard on the financial terms of the engagement, avoiding the debt trap that several smaller economies who signed up for OBOR have fallen into. We now have the wisdom of hindsight to guide us.

Use the Trade Deficit For Fair Terms of Trade

We should use the Trade Deficit to create fair Terms of Trade, demanding easier access for our exports, and if Beijing refuses to comply, we should not hesitate to implement retaliatory tariffs or bans, for instance in pharmaceuticals.

We should use access to our vast domestic market, for China’s glut of steel, cement and other commodities, as a smart negotiating asset. India is also an attractive alternative for nervous mainland investors.

Tencent, Alibaba and Xiaomi have committed hundreds of millions of dollars. The controversial Huawei Technologies is keen to power our 5G networks. Chinese appliance makers Haier, Midea, and Konka are also either launching or expanding their presence in India. There is unexplored potential in high-speed rail lines, smart cities, and joint technology parks. China understands transaction diplomacy. We should too!

While we don't want to antagonise China, we shouldn’t be its doormat, either. That means we must remain ever nimble, treating China alternately as a peer, a partner, and an adversary, depending on the circumstances.