Indian Ambassador to China S. Jaishankar on Friday called on both countries to be “strategically mature enough” and work together on issues where they had common interests to “tackle the strong powers that dominate the current world order”, describing the often invoked competition between “dragon and elephant” as being exaggerated.
The “only solution” to address persisting political distrust, in particular from the long-running boundary dispute, was by boosting communication and exchanges, the Indian envoy said in a wide-ranging interview here with the influential PLA Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
“According to my understanding, the so called analogy of “dragon” and “elephant” is exaggerated,” Mr. Jaishankar, who has been the envoy in Beijing since 2009, told the newspaper. “Competition between ‘dragon and the elephant’ is what the strong powers like to say and that is what they would like to see. Ask yourself: Is it in our interest to play this game? I think it is not.”
He said the question facing both nations was “whether we can be strategically mature enough and help each other in the process of common development.”
Over the past decade, during which, he said, more than 60 per cent of all agreements between both nations had been signed, the neighbours had seen the benefits of working together on international fora like the United Nations Security Council, the World Trade Organisation and the U.N. climate change conference.
‘Working towards a balanced relationship’
“[Cooperation] should be closer,” he said. “In the past, people would ridicule BRICS [the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa grouping], saying that it is unreal and cannot accomplish anything. But you can see how BRICS has developed in recent years.”
Mr. Jaishankar said that while he was confident that trade would reach U.S. $ 100 billion by 2015, he was “worried” about India’s large trade deficit with China, on track to surpass last year’s record $ 20 billion figure. “At present, India buys a lot from China but China buys very little from India. So, one of my current priorities is to ensure that both countries have a balanced trade relationship.”
Asked about the boundary dispute and the persisting trust deficit, he said: “There is distrust when people don’t understand each other. Lack of mutual trust and understanding is the real challenge faced by our two countries. It has blurred our vision. If you have to give a very direct solution, then my solution is: enhance exchanges in every field.”
Exchanges, he said, were growing, with 500,000 Indian tourists now visiting China every year.
India was also keen on quickly putting in place a system to teach Mandarin in Indian schools, with plans in place for the Ministry of Education to establish a first ever institution to train language teachers. He expected the institution to be launched next year.
“This is very significant because if young Indians can learn Chinese early on and understand China, then their interest and understanding of China will be very different,” he said. So this is not about only teaching a language, but it will also sow the seeds of cultural understanding in their minds.”
