By Pranay Kumar Shome

Foreign policy in today’s age is guided primarily by a combination of realism and pragmatism. This is exactly the case with India. The recent abstention of India at the United Nations Human Rights Council vote on the issue of China’s wanton human rights abuses against the Uighur people in its far western Xinjiang district is a case in point. China has faced global opprobrium over its brutal treatment of the Uighur people who belong to the Islamic faith.

But politics is not always driven by human rights considerations. In these turbulent times, it is driven by national interests of nation-states. India’s actions at the United Nations Human Rights Council amply demonstrate it. However this action by India needs to be looked from a broader perspective.

Strained ties

Since June 2020, China-India ties have been strained thanks to Chinese transgressions in the eastern Ladakh border followed by the June 20 Galwan clash resulting in the deaths of some twenty Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese armed forces personnel. Since then India has moved on the offensive, banning a large number of Chinese apps on the grounds that they represent strong security threats and has also moved to restrict investments from Chinese companies and corporations in an attempt to maintain ‘economic sovereignty’.

China has responded in kind, it has ratcheted up pressure in the Indian Ocean Region by dispatching a research and surveillance vessel Yuan Wang 5 which recently docked in the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka. Its debt trap diplomacy has put Sri Lanka and Nepal in dire economic straits with the countries struggling to service their foreign debt. The condition of Sri Lanka is far worse. At the same time in order to bolster its maritime prowess and show India its strength the Chinese have inducted into active service its second aircraft carrier with a third one under construction.

Needless to say, ties have been strained. But not for long, both countries have realised that strained ties between two Asian behemoths who are economically second and sixth largest in the world doesn’t augur well for Asian stability and peace in general and global peace in particular. So both countries have moved to repair the damage in ties.

Calming the borders

The first part of this reset began with restoring tranquility at the border in eastern Ladakh. So far over 16 rounds of talks have been held between Indian and Chinese army commanders which have led to the mutual withdrawal of Indian and Chinese troops from friction points like Gogra Heights, Hot Springs, Chushul, Moldo etc.

It has been regarded in Indian strategic circles that China cannot be trusted to restore calm at the border. But a proponent of political realism will invariably argue that in order to prevent anarchy it is imperative great powers take steps to cooperate with each other. This is exactly what both the countries are doing.

It is hopeful that the border crisis will be resolved at the earliest without the further loss of lives and the restoration of the vibrancy of the ties.

Convergence on Russia

The Russo-Ukraine war has also caused a convergence of interests. Both China and India have resisted western pressures to call out Russia for its unbridled aggression against Ukraine. In fact Russia has moved closer to China following its expulsion from the SWIFT system. Yuan-Rouble transactions are at historic highs. India too hasn’t remained behind. It has defended its right to buy Russian oil at discounted rates at a time when global oil prices are sky high. India in fact has reminded the West that it needs to grow out of its mindset that Europe’s problems are global problems.

India has refused to call out Russia directly for its actions in Ukraine, however in a sign of tightrope walk New Delhi has condemned the Bucha massacre and has called for an ‘impartial neutral investigation’.

With Russia globally isolated, it is moving increasingly towards China and India. This Russia-India-China (RIC) axis looks to be very promising.At the same time, India and China have moved quickly to restore their trade ties, with imports and exports of India to China and vice-versa achieving historic levels.

Remaining cautiously optimistic

In diplomacy it is necessary to remain optimistic; hence it is imperative that both countries make certain compromises on thorny issues. Both India and China talk about the Asian century. It is therefore time to make this century truly the Asian century because a reset in the ties of these two great civilisational states will set a template for similar resets around the world.

Author is Research associate for Defence Research and Studies (DRAS).

The Financial Express

The views in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of InfoBRICS.