Pretty pictures and peace

Wuhan made pretty pictures. Xi Jinping escorting Narendra Modi through museums, the ting of the bells, the walk in the forest and yes, the boat ride. Doklam appeared like a far cry, a bad dream blown away as the two chatted, almost in a holiday mood. The two armies too have been told to breathe a little, make space for the new trust. Modi, in his typical style, suggested STRENGTH—Spirituality; Tradition, Trade and Tech; Relationship; Entertainment; Nature conservation; Games; Tourism; and Health and Healing—and a ‘new Panchsheel’. Xi seemed to concur. 

The Indian media had a field day of perfect photo-ops. But more revelatory of the ‘reset’ in diplomatic ties was the tone in the Chinese media. The Modi-Xi rendezvous was not just front-paged, the shrill tone of the years leading up to Doklam was absent; in its place was a language of engagement. Pending and contentious issues hung in the background; some of them were addressed in the talks of the two foreign ministers that took place prior to Wuhan.

India has not changed, in a tangible manner, its position on OBOR, nor was there any pressure to do so. It’s generally believed that China has appreciated India’s patience and maturity in not jumping into the Maldives crisis, despite full backing from the West. And the scaling down of two engagements around the Tibetan issue and the Dalai Lama, in recent months, helped set the stage for peace. On Beijing’s part, it seems to be an acceptance of India as a big power in Asia, if not the world, hence the talk of joint projects in Afghanistan. 

The Opposition, particularly the Congress, has criticised the structure-less, unformatted talks, when ‘serious’ issues were pending. But if a bit of walk around and boat-ride help in de-escalation of tensions, there’s no harm. Historically, it’s not been in India’s DNA to be in a hostile relation with anyone, more so a neighbour. It also falls upon India and China to bring a creative, solution-making approach to issues that may decide the fate of billions.