SINGAPORE: Proactive politics rather than economic imperatives should be seen as the key to progress in India's buoyant interaction with China.

Making out a powerful case for recognising this reality in the context of the evolution of India's relationship with China, N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu said here on Wednesday that the prospects on this bilateral front should not be left to spontaneity.

Tracing the various phases in the India-China engagement over half a century, Mr. Ram drew attention to Rajiv Gandhi's visit to China in December 1988 as "the breakthrough event" that set the stage for a process of an "extremely inspiring" progress.

Addressing the "Asia Pacific Business Summit," organised here by the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Ram emphasised that "normalisation is aided by China's economic reforms." Identifying this aspect as just "one of the key factors" and noting that the breakthrough preceded India's own economic liberalisation, he said "the impulse came from politics, so far as India was concerned" at that time.

The conclusion that could be drawn, therefore, would be that "economic strategy and development imperatives are important, but politics must lead." Underlining the resonance of this "hypothesis" for the economics-savvy players on the international stage, like those assembled at the summit, he said: "Unless politics leads proactively, you can't really expect too much from spontaneity, if you have problems that have stood in the way of the full realisation of the potential of this relationship."

Damage repaired

Noting that "a frost descended" on the promising India-China diplomatic landscape following New Delhi's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, he said the two countries were fortunately "able to repair the damage" and "initiate a resumption of the process" that was launched in the context of the 1988 meeting between Rajiv Gandhi and Chinese helmsman Deng Xiaoping.

Summing up the political message from the management of the 1998 "setback," he said "the relationship is mature." As a result, "it has been an upswing all round." India and China should "cooperate, not fight, or pull against each other," he advocated.

Spelling out the principles that now govern the India-China engagement, such as "non-use of force to alter the status quo along the Line of Actual Control," a guideline now "set in stone," and other norms, he recalled how the Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, first enunciated by China in the context of Tibet issue in the1950s, was singularly devoid of any economic criterion.

As for economic dynamics as a factor in Asia in the 21st century, Mr. Ram recounted how Deng had famously noted that "if China and India fail to develop, it cannot be called an Asian century." Singapore's leaders had "instinctively" and consistently caught on to this political theme of the times, he noted. This marked a reflection of the City-State's "qualitative role" in the India-China milieu.

Presiding over the plenary session on the subject of "India and China — The Singapore Connection," K. Kesavapany, Director, Institute of South East Asian Studies here, said the message from the session was that the City-State could play the role of a possible connector in tapping the synergies in the equation between the two Asian neighbours.

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