In concert with India

INFOCUS | INDIA-CHINA | CIVIL SOCIETY

New ChiNa fiNds feet iN Brave New world

In concert with India to give Asia new voice

You Jianhua

T

he year 2011 was observed as the year of China-India Exchanges.

Exchanges are indeed important for our two nations who need to better understand each other and to build greater trust. In this regard civil societies can play a big role. Working together, we can build a bridge between China and India to bring the two peoples and the two states closer toward each other.

First, how should we understand China?

Since the founding of New China in 1949, especially in the past 30 years after the country adopted the reform and opening up policy, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Chinese people have embarked onto a unique path of development that conforms with China’s realities, scoring remarkable achievements in all courses with sustained and rapid economic development and with people’s livelihood uplifted from bare subsistence to a well-off level. In recent years, with the aim of realizing peopleoriented, comprehensive, co-ordinated and sustainable development, China has endeavored to transform the mode of economic development while main-

there have been some twists and turns between us, but just as Chinese Premier wen Put it, China and india have been friends for 99.9% of the time over the last 2000 years. that’s the best summary of sinoindian relations

Jawaharlal Nehru with former Chinese Premier Zhou enlai (l) in China

Chinese Premier wen Jiabao visited india in 2005

indian Prime Minister Manmohan singh with Chinese President hu Jintao |6| India-China Chronicle  July 2012

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taining steady and rapid growth. Efforts have been made to create more jobs, deepen the redistribution reform and to build a safety net that covers both urban and rural residents. Great attention has been paid to energy and resource conservation and environment protection with a view to enhancing development sustainability.

Indigenous innovation was encouraged and stressed as critical impetus to drive the nation forward. Meanwhile, China also worked to strengthen the role of agriculture as development foundation of the economy, ensure food security, tackle devastating natural disasters and public health emergencies, and to secure the safety of lives and property of the people in the course of development. We pursue a scientific way of development which aims at achieving expansion of production, affluence of life and a favourable eco-system through a holistic, open and win-win approach, by adapting ourselves to the changing world situation with the increased momentum of economic globalization.

own development. We will continue to implement the policy of “building friendship and partnership with our neighbouring countries” and enhance cooperation with our neighbouring countries, including India, to create peace and prosperity together.

“

I do not know why but as soon as I alighted on the land of China, I felt that I have come home. I have come to China not to observe the sceneries as a tourist, nor to bring some gospel as a missionary, but to seek the way as a pilgrim and pay homage to China’s cultural community. I have come to China for some invisible emotion: to be general, my mission is to repair the bridge between China and India which was broken more than a thousand years ago

|8| India-China Chronicle  July 2012

“

Given the large population, weak economic foundation, imbalanced development level between rural and urban areas and between regions, intensifying constraints from resources and environment, growing employment pressure and daunting task of poverty elimination, China is still a developing country, and we have a long way to go to realize modernization and to achieve common prosperity of the entire population of 1.3 billion.

A blueprint has been drawn for social and economic development in the next

five years, according to which, China will be committed to scientific development, focus on accelerated transformation of economic development mode, deepen reform and opening up, secure and improve people’s well-being in order to promote sustained, steady and fast economic growth and social harmony and stability. China is willing to learn from others’ strong points and cooperate with other countries as equals for common development.

China will continue to follow the opening-up strategy of mutual benefit,

rabindranath tagore in China

and follow a good-neighbourly policy towards countries in the region. China will also be active in international and regional cooperation and make efforts with other countries to create an international environment of peace and stability, equality and mutual trust, winwin cooperation, thus making active contribution to a harmonious world of enduring peace and common prosperity.

China’s achievements have been possible due to our choice of the peaceful development road. In order to achieve better development in the future, we need to firmly adhere to this road. China’s development will not harm or threaten anyone. We will, as ever, be committed to safeguarding world peace and seeking peaceful international environment to develop ourselves, and at the same time, better promote world peace by means of our

Second, how should we view China-India relations?

The friendship between China and India has a long history. Buddhism was introduced to China as early as in the Han dynasty. In the Jin and Tang dynasties, Fa Hsien and Xuanzang went on a pilgrimage to India respectively for Buddhist scriptures, which became a much told story spreading up to now.

Thus Buddhism became an important part of the Chinese civilization. In modern times, China and India sympathized with and supported each other in the fight for independence and liberation. The Indian National Congress Party sent medical teams to assist the Chinese people in the War of Resistance against Japan and Doctor Dwarkanath S Kotnis even rendered his life for China’s cause of liberation, which we will never forget.

China and India established diplomatic relations in 1950. India was the first non-socialist country to start diplomatic ties with China. In 1954, then Premier

Zhou Enlai visited India, and then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited China. The two leaders jointly advocated the five principles of peaceful coexistence (Panchsheel) that remain important in dealing with international relations. An upsurge of friendly cooperation between China and India was forged in those years. “Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai” became a popular saying in both countries. As the late master of Sinology and Indology Ji Xianlin put it, China and India are made for each

China has reCeived more visitors from india than india has from China. we should visit eaCh other more often beCause faCe-to-faCe interaCtion is the best way to enhanCe mutual understanding

other as neighbours.

Since the beginning of the new century, Sino-Indian political relations have also achieved laudable progress.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited India in 2005, during which the two countries established a strategic cooperative partnership. When Chinese President Hu Jintao visited India in 2006, the two sides formulated the Ten Strategies for Sino-Indian Common Development. In 2008, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited China, and the two sides reached a document entitled “A Shared Vision for the 21st Century of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of India”, bringing Sino-Indian relations to a new level. April 1, 2010 marked the 60th anniversary of China-India diplomatic relations. In the past six decades our relations have scored significant development. The two states have established strategic cooperative partnership and have carried out practical cooperation in various fields.

The two countries have also kept close coordination and cooperation on international and regional issues.

At present, Sino-Indian relations have become one of the most important bilateral relations in the world

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and are bearing increasingly global and strategic significance. Sure there have been some twists and turns between us, but just as Chinese Premier Wen put it, China and India have been friends for 99.9% of the time over the last 2000 years. That’s the best summary of SinoIndian relations.

In 2010, Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna was invited to deliver a speech with the theme “China, India and the World in the 21st Century” during his official visit to China. Minister Krishna, a 78-year-old veteran of the Indian National Congress, was awarded one of the most outstanding

younger generation may not be familiar with that part of the history, so it’s necessary for us to remind them for a stronger cooperation spirit. Minister Krishna also said China and India are both developing countries, being confronted with common challenges such as urbanization, resource consumption, as well as food and energy security for all-round development and technological progress. The two countries’ economic modes are different, but sharing experience on economic issues is beneficial for our common development. He deemed that currently, the two countries’ cooperation in this

Xuan Zang Memorial hall in Nalanda

chief ministers in recent years by the Indian media. He said, after winning their national independence respectively in the late 1940s, the two nations enjoyed their decade-long honeymoon throughout the 1950s. India was one of the 19 countries that recognized New China at that time, and actively supported China’s restoration of UN membership. The two states firmly stood on the same side in the Indochina Wars, the Suez Canal Crisis, the Taiwan Strait Crisis and the Korean War. He said passionately that the |10| India-China Chronicle  July 2012

field is insufficient.

In the future, India can absorb China’s advanced experience and technology in infrastructure construction, while China can cooperate more with India’s IT industry. Krishna expressed that common development of the two countries is not only beneficial for us, but also for the whole world. We should remember we are neighbouring countries. Stability and prosperity of each of us also serves the interests of the other. Meanwhile, both countries are so populous that our development

has improved the living standard of 1/3 of the world population, thus increasing global per capita income, life expectancy and Human Development Index over the past 20 years. When you ask what China and India can do to the world, please remember that the realization of development in these two countries alone is of great global effect. He also said we have to admit that there are some disputes between us but we needn’t be frustrated because this is what happens in international politics.

Our ability to deal with these issues is a test to the maturity of our relationship.

If China and India can cooperate in more and more fields, the whole world will benefit from it. Stable and positive Sino-Indian relations must be based on both political mutual trust and common economic interests.

Reviewing the past, we could see that our relations have not been all smooth sailing. There were sunny days as well as cloudy seasons, or even stormy moments. In the process of the economic globalization and the world multi-polarization, China and India, the two big developing countries, represent the emerging forces that are catching world attention. Cooperation between the two countries not only serves the interests of the two peoples, but also contributes to peace and prosperity of Asia and even of the world.

Both as major developing countries, China and India are confronted with the common tasks of developing their economies and improving the people’s livelihood. Both shoulder the responsibility of safeguarding regional peace and stability and realizing development and prosperity in Asia. The two countries share extensive common interests in promoting world multi-polarization and democratization of international relations. Developing friendly relations with India is a consistent policy of the CPC and the Chinese government.

We sincerely welcome a peaceful and prosperous India. As developing countries, we both need development. We are happy to see India’s rise and I think the Indian people would also be happy to see China develop. We should develop together, so that our people will enjoy a better life.

Since the 1990s, there have been

more gratifying signs in bilateral relations such as growing exchanges of high level visits and strengthened cooperation in all fields, business and trade in particular. There will be better development in various fields in the future because both countries have great room for growth in such areas as economy, science and technology, culture, including media. Minor issues, if there are any, can be well solved through discussion and consultation. What the two sides need urgently to do is to build up mutual trust, especially political trust, by increasing communication and enhancing understanding. The two countries share plenty of common interests, so it should not be difficult for us to work together. In fact, we can do much better. What we need is cooperation rather than competition. Through cooperation we can learn from each other’s strong points and share experience for common development.

There are indeed some issues that both sides find rather knotty. But I hope these issues won’t become barriers. The two sides need to enhance communication and mutual understanding so as to solve these issues as soon as possible. China and India have their own priorities at home, and it would be best for the two to acknowledge each other’s strong points, advantages and goodwill, and improve mutual trust through communication. For example, India has good agricultural experience, enabling it to feed its vast population. India’s world-renowned software industry is also worth learning. Both countries have strong and weak points. Therefore, we can share experience and learn from each other.

The two countries should make joint efforts for this purpose, not keeping a wary eye on each other or being affected by third-party instigation. China is keen to develop friendship and strengthen cooperation with India, which we hope could be truly appreciated by the Indian people.

Cultural exchanges have been the mainstay in the 2000 years of interaction between the two countries. It is through mutual exchanges and learning that the two peoples have developed and enriched their respective civilizations. The Ganges Civilization

of India made creative contribution in literature, philosophy and natural science. The immortal epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana, the sophisticated philosophical and logical theory of Hetuvidya, the decimal numeration based on ten numeric symbols including “0” used worldwide, Buddhism, which was born in India in the 6th century BC, and later introduced to China, Korea and Japan, and the great works of Rabindranath Tagore, all had strong impact on and left footprints in the development of the Chinese civilization. Similarly, China’s paper-making techniques as well as silk, ceramics,

are few such cases in the world where two large neighbouring countries enjoy such a long history of interaction and strong mutual impact but seldom come into conflicts or wars. However, in modern history, due to various reasons, especially the invasion of India and China by imperialist powers in the 19th century, relations between the two countries hit rock bottom. During the Second World War, both China and India, as part of the Allies, made huge sacrifice and great contribution to the final victory against Fascist invaders.

The two governments both pay great attention to the role of culture.

indian style Buddhist temple in the west side of the white horse temple in luoyang

tea and music were also introduced to India, adding splendour to Indian culture. The Chinese Twenty Four Dynastic Histories and the travelogues of holy monks are also good sources of reference for the study of Indian ancient history. Thanks to sages like Bodhidharma and Xuanzang, exchanges between the two peoples were able to continue uninterrupted for over a thousand years. These are chronicled in great details in the History of SinoIndian Cultural Exchanges by the famous Chinese scholar Ji Xianlin. There

Our cultural exchanges and cooperation are very close, reaching another peak after the Tang Dynasty and becoming an important foundation underpinning our bilateral relations. Even at the time when the two countries were at odds, Ji Xianlin, together with his students, stayed on his project and accomplished the translation of Mahabharata and Ramayana into Chinese. The 1980s saw the rapid recovery of relations between the two countries.

In 1988, Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited China, during which July 2012  India-China Chronicle |11|

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the two countries signed the Sino-Indian Cultural Cooperation Agreement.

In 2003, during the visit of then Prime Minister Vajpayee to China, the two sides signed the cultural agreement -Implementation Plan for 2003-2005.

In November 2006, the two sides issued a Joint Declaration, by which cultural exchanges are highlighted as one of the “Ten Strategies” to deepen Sino-India strategic cooperative partnership. In January 2008, the two sides signed “A Shared Vision for the 21st Century”, bringing Sino-Indian relations to a higher level. In 2009, a Confucius Institute was set up in India, and the Indian Culture Centre was opened in China, both giving new impetus to cultural exchanges.

In recent years, economic and trade cooperation has been a highlight of the two countries’ relations. Trade volume between China and India grew from US $2.9 billion in 2000 to US $51.78 billion in 2008, with an average annual growth of 43%. In 2009, trade between the two countries was somewhat affected by the financial crisis, but it still remained at a high level, reaching US $44.38 billion. In 2010, with concerted efforts by the two sides, trade volume reached the pre-set objective of 60 billion US dollars. China is now India’s largest trading partner; India comes first among China’s trading partners in South Asia, and 10th in the world.

Besides, mutual investment has seen a steady increase. India’s accumulative direct investment in China has surpassed US $300 million, and China’s investment in India has reached US $250 million. At present, there are over 100 Indian companies operating in China, and over 60 Chinese companies are conducting R&D and contracting business in India.

With a joint population of 2.5 billion, China and India represent a huge potential market and are quite complementary in economic terms. Closer economic and business cooperation serves the interests of the two countries and has brought tangible benefits to its peoples. In December 2010 during his visit to India, Premier Wen Jiabao reached an agreement with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to establish a Sino-Indian Strategic and Economic |12| India-China Chronicle  July 2012

Dialogue Mechanism, and set a new target of increasing bilateral trade to 100 billion US dollars by 2015, stressing that the two countries should complement each other in various fields. It is worth mentioning that China appreciates India’s concern over its enlarging trade deficit and its raw material-based export structure, and has shown good gesture by encouraging Indian businesses to explore the Chinese domestic market.

As developing countries, both China and India hold similar or even identical positions on many major international issues. The two countries enjoyed good collaboration in the Doha

what the two sides need urgently to do is to build uP mutual trust, esPeCially PolitiCal trust, by inCreasing CommuniCation and enhanCing understanding. the two Countries share Plenty of Common interests, so it should not be diffiCult for us to work together.

Round negotiations, and on such matters as climate change, energy and food security and international financial crisis, jointly safeguarding the interests of the developing world. China and India have also played active roles in the more recent multilateral mechanisms, such as China-Russia-India trilateral cooperation, BRIC (China, Russia, India and Brazil), BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) and the Developing-Five (China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and Mexico). China and India will undoubtedly be important forces in the future political landscape

of Asia, and will play a more active role in regional affairs.

I believe that Sino-Indian relations are more than a bilateral framework, that of global and strategic significance. As two emerging powers, China and India have seen their international standing elevated and influence increased in recent years. With intensified cooperation, the two countries have played a constructive role in many international affairs and have gained more attention from the world. For instance, China and India have taken the lead in tiding over the international financial crisis by taking proactive counter measures, contributing greatly to world economic recovery. Meanwhile, the two countries strengthened communication and coordination in the G20 Summits in London and Pittsburgh, ensuring that positive results were achieved.

Compared to the sound development of our political relations, peopleto-people exchanges between the two countries are apparently not sufficient.

With a total population of 2.5 billion between the two countries, the number of mutual visits in 2010 was only 530,000 person-times, far lower than the 6 million between China and RoK. Lack of interaction has directly caused estrangement and misunderstanding between the two peoples. While political mutual trust is essential, amity among the peoples is just as important for a healthy bilateral relationship.

China has received more visitors from India than India has from China. We should visit each other more often because face-to-face interaction is the best way to enhance mutual understanding.

Like in inter-personal relationship, the better we know about each other, the better we feel about each other, and there will be fewer disputes and misunderstanding but more business links.

When you feel good about someone, you are more willing to buy his products. Similarly, if you understand a people very well, you are more likely to invest in their country, or invite them to invest in yours. What we need to do is to bring Chinese and Indian civil societies together so that people can meet and get to know each other.

I attended a reception for a

500-person youth delegation from India in September 2011 and was deeply impressed. That was one of the major events in the “Year of Sino-India Exchanges” programme, which set a record in the two countries’ youth exchanges in terms of the number of people involved in one single visit. Mutual visits by young people will sow the seeds of friendship for our future relations.

Third, things to be clarified In recent years, China-India relations have generally enjoyed sound development. However, like any other bilateral relations, it is inevitable to have some friction or disputes from time to time. At present, the deep-seated problems in the bilateral relations lie in the lack of necessary understanding and trust between the two countries and the two peoples despite the fact that we share the same border. This has restricted the development of bilateral relations. Secondly, there are still some pending historical issues between us that remain to be solved, such as the border issue. We must first and foremost make joint efforts and try all possible means to enhance trust and mu-

tual understanding, thus creating an amicable atmosphere for the advancement of bilateral relations and a favourable condition for the settlement of historical and current issues. We need to better understand each other from political, historical and cultural dimensions, and also from regional and international perspectives.

1. Political mutual trust and economic mutual benefit are two indispensable wheels to carry China-India relations forward.

On the one hand, we need to strengthen political mutual trust.

Strategically, both the Chinese and the Indian governments attach great importance to their bilateral ties, and set this relationship as one of their diplomatic priorities, which provides paramount guarantee for plans to get carried out. Over the past few years, the two countries have been seen as the most dynamic emerging economies in the world. We are also key members of BRICS, calling out loud for the transformation of the international systems and for the protection of the interests of developing nations. With the in-

ternational financial crisis, the heated climate change issues, and the standoff at the Doha round negotiations, the two emerging powers are showing increasingly greater strength. Both Premier Wen Jiabao and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh put China-India relationship high on their diplomatic agenda, seeking stable, positive and pragmatic bilateral cooperation. They stressed more than once that there is plenty of room in Asia and the world for China and India to develop together and that it takes greater efforts to build a relationship than to ruin it.

These are clear messages about the political will to promote friendship and stabilize their relations. China and India should be cooperative partners, rather than competitive rivals. Only the common development of the two countries can bring real development to the whole region and the world. Our population together, which accounts for 40% of the world total, means enormous development room and market potential. The media should look more into the broad prospects of Sino-Indian cooperation. However, despite the consensus reached by our leaders that China and India do not constitute a threat to each other, frankly speaking, the China Threat Theory still sells in India. Even some China-friendly people are worried about a potential conflict between the two nations in the future. To ease that, the civil societies of the two countries should enhance exchanges and mitigate the gap of understanding. NGOs play a very important role and shoulder unshakable responsibilities in promoting friendship and mutual trust between the two peoples. Each of our organizations should do more in this regard and serve as a window, a bridge, or a bond through which the two peoples will know each other better.

On the other hand, we need to expand mutually beneficial economic cooperation. As big emerging developing economies, China and India, which have successively embarked on the road of reform and opening up, have similar national conditions, and are in basically the same stage of development. The two countries face common tasks of developing economy, eliminating poverty July 2012  India-China Chronicle |13|

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and raising people’s living standard. In the context of economic globalization, we face common or similar opportunities and challenges. With strong economic complementarities, there is a huge potential to be tapped in our economic and trade cooperation, which require more consideration and effort from the two sides.

2. China’s peaceful development poses no threat to India China released the Whitepaper on China’s Peaceful Development in September, 2011, once again, solemnly announcing to the whole world that peaceful development is a strategic choice it has made to realize modernization, rejuvenate the nation, enrich the people and make greater contribution to the progress of world civilization. China will stick to this road unswervingly. Our peaceful rise is a breach from the classic pattern that a rising power is bound to seek hegemony. Decades of practice has proven that China has chosen the right path and has no reason to steer away from it.

We are committed to peaceful development and do not believe that hegemony is the only destination of a rising power. China cares more about the environment it is rising from and concerns itself with the challenges facing the whole world.

We believe that hegemony or bullying or use of force can only make things worse. They may help to settle one problem or another, but will meanwhile produce more grievances and risks. It is for sure that China will encounter many difficulties on its way to development, but difficulties must be resolved through peaceful dialogue and diplomatic approach. Global issues, be it climate change, or trade negotiations, or UN reform, as well as territorial disputes, cannot be settled simply by showing the fist or talking rough, nor by the use of brutal force.

It is these beliefs that will guide China in dealing with other countries over disputes. China is willing to work with the Indian side to strengthen mutual trust, promote cooperation, and contribute to peace and stability in the region and the world at large. China |14| India-China Chronicle  July 2012

does not jeopardize other countries, and has the ability to safeguard its own security and development. China and India are close neighbours linked by the same mountains and rivers. A sound partnership serves the interests of both sides.

Although there are still problems about security concepts of the two countries, China and India, as two emerging powers, from a strategic height and the fundamental interests of both peoples, must properly handle the pressure and challenges in military security, abandon the stereotype thinking of the past and look far into the same direction. In the field of mili-

deng Xiaoping

tary security, we should try to enhance trust, strengthen cooperation, reduce friction and avoid conflict. On the national emblem of India there is a motto in Sanskrit: “Satyameva Jayate” (Truth Alone Triumphs). When talking about Sino-Indian relations, Premier Wen Jiabao once quoted from the Upanishads to express the strong desires of China to realize good neighbourly relations with India: “Om. May Brahman protect us both! May Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of Knowledge!

May we both obtain the energy to acquire Knowledge! May what we both study reveal the Truth! May we cherish no ill feeling toward each other! Om. Peace! Peace! Peace!”

3. There is no clash of civilizations between China and India China and India are among the world’s four ancient civilizations.

Throughout 2,000 years of exchanges between the two countries, the two great civilizations have always been influencing each other and drawing on each other’s strengths. Such benign interactions have continued up to this day. With the attention from leaders of both countries, the years 2006 and 2007 were designated respectively as the China-India Friendship Year and the China-India Tourism Friendship Year, with ever expanding cooperation in culture, art and education and exchanges among the youth. In 2011, the India Festival and China Festival were organized respectively in China and India, highlighted by a series of brilliant art performances, exhibitions and film weeks, with a view to promoting mutual understanding and bringing the peoples closer together.

Buddhism originated from India and flourished in China. The essence of Buddhism has penetrated the blood of the Chinese nation and become an important element of its culture, exerting profound influence on Chinese ancient philosophy, art, literature, architecture, and folk customs. It is fair to say that Buddhism has played an important role in exchanges between the two great civilizations. There is a “Xuan Zang Memorial Hall” in Nalanda, a famous Buddhist shrine in India, which is a Chinese-style Buddhist architecture built by China, and has undergone renovation in 2007. A few years ago India built an Indian style Buddhist Temple in the west side of the White Horse Temple in Luoyang, in China’s Henan Province. The two buildings have become testimony to the two countries’ cultural exchanges.

The Buddhist communities of the two countries have also exchanged many visits in recent years.

The year 2011 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), the famous Indian writer, artist, philosopher and social activist. In 1913 Tagore won the Nobel

Prize in Literature as the first laureate from the Oriental for his anthology of poems – Gitanjali. During those days under Britain’s colonial rule, he was the pride of India, and a hero in the Oriental world that was suffering from humiliation by western powers. Tagore is a big name in China. During China’s New Culture Movement, he and many of his works were introduced to China, influencing generations of Chinese readers. Tagore had always been very friendly with the Chinese people. In 1881, a young 20-year-old Tagore harshly condemned British imperialists for dumping opium on China and forcing the Qing government to cede territory and pay indemnities. In his famous article China Maraner Elyabasay (The Death Trade in China) in the Bengali Magazine Bharati, he wrote: “Britain sits on the chest of the biggest Asian civilization, dripping poison into her healthy body and soul, driving her to death. One makes a killing while the other suffers tremendous loses. Such cruel robbery is indeed unprecedented.” Tagore made a speech in Japan in 1916, condemning the malefaction of Japan’s invasion of China’s Shandong Province. After China’s War of Resistance against Japan broke out, Tagore published letters and speeches several times to condemn Japan’s atrocity. He also took the lead in raising funds to support China in the war at his best. He once said with all emotion, “I believe I was a Chinese in my previous life!” In the International University of India, where Tagore served as the President, he established a China Institute for Chinese students. At the invitation of two great Chinese scholars, Liang Qichao and Cai Yuanpei, Tagore paid his first visit to China on March 21, 1924. While setting foot on China, he couldn’t help but say, “I do not know why but as soon as I alighted on the land of China, I felt that I have come home.” He added, “But I may put it this way, India feels that it bears an extremely close alliance with China.

China and India are both very old and beloved brothers.” He also said, “I have come to China not to observe the sceneries as a tourist, nor to bring some gospel as a missionary, but to seek the way as a pilgrim and pay homage to China’s

cultural community. I have come to China for some invisible emotion: to be general, my mission is to repair the bridge between China and India which was broken more than a thousand years ago; to be more specific, I want to get sincere sympathy from you—the youth of China. Let us work together, Chinese and Indians. We shall not be afraid of difficulties for we have the hoes on our shoulders to root out misunderstanding, and we have fresh seeds in our pockets that will bear fruits of humanity. Sun or rain, let us clear the land and sow the seeds, while singing loud new songs to encourage sprouts to grow out of darkness.” His words are remembered even today.

more and more visionary indians have realized that China’s develoPment is more of a blessing than a Curse.

4. China and India will not fall into the so-called dragonelephant contention Dragon and elephant are often used to symbolize China and India. In some media reports, China and India are regarded as economic competitors, and the development of the two countries is referred to as a contest between the dragon and the elephant (The Dragon and the Elephant, by David Smith, economics editor of the Sunday Times).

Some people in India believe that “China and India are rivals or competitors instead of partners in mutually beneficial cooperation.” Though it is not the mainstream opinion, its potential to mislead the public and its negative impacts on Sino-Indian relations cannot be overlooked. I would rather say that the dragon and the elephant can work together and develop side by side. China and India are the world’s two biggest developing countries with similar histories and common goal for development, and they are facing the same historical challenges and share the same or similar stands on major in-

ternational issues. Cooperation is beneficial to both countries, to Asia and the world. Both China and India must pay close attention to the development of each other.

More and more Indians from different walks of life are beginning to follow China’s development and to appreciate and speak positively of China’s enormous progress in the past three decades. They also support the two countries for better cooperation for a win-win result. Of course there are a small number of people who fail to view China’s development in a just and objective way. Some of them do not know China’s reality, or have been misled by western media. But very few have a prejudice against China. But they do not represent the main stream.

China pursues a peaceful way of development without jeopardizing any other country. More and more visionary Indians have realized that China’s development is more of a blessing than a curse.

Actually, as early as in 1988 Deng Xiaoping made a far-sighted assertion that no genuine Asia-Pacific century or Asian century can come until China, India and other neighbouring countries are developed. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also repeated on different occasions that, “The world is big enough for both India and China to develop” and that “The world is big enough for India and China’s ambitions.” Such strategic mainstream judgements have laid the foundation for the stable bilateral relationship between China and India.

Lastly, I would like to conclude by quoting these lines from Tagore: The furthest distance in the world is not between life and death but when I stand in front of you yet you don’t know that I love you 

You Jianhua is the Secretary-General of China NGO Network for International Exchanges. This was his speech at the China-India People’s Dialogue in December, 2011

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