Unless the China-Indian frontier is satisfactorily demarcated and the dispute ended, bilateral relations are likely to remain mildly frosty, said Shashi Tharoor, former Union Minister of State for External Affairs.
Delivering the KIT Thomas Memorial Oration on ‘India and China: Competition, Co-operation or Conflict?' at Sishya on Thursday, he said, “There is a lot that India and China can achieve by joining hands together not only for their interests but for the common good of their peoples, peoples of Asia and the developing world.”
Underlining the need for co-operation than conflict between the two countries that are predicted to be the economic power houses of the future, Mr. Tharoor said, “The world is big enough for both together and separately for realising our developmental aspirations.” A better understanding between the two vastly different political systems by exchange of scholars, commentators, journalists and by a significant improvement in tourism would further the process of co-operation, he emphasised. “The emergence of a stronger US-India relations appears to have convinced China to place New Delhi much more in the category of a potential adversary, even as an instrument in the containment of China. This perception may have been reinforced by India's frequent military exercises with the US, Japan and Australia,” Mr. Tharoor said.
Apart from growing trade between the two countries which was expected to double to US $ 100 billion in 2015, he said both could closely co-operate on energy, especially fuel, and food, for which there would be a great demand, for mutual benefit.
