The visa route to normalcy
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met last October, they decided to adopt a two-pronged approach aimed at normalising ties and addressing the long-standing border dispute that has led to several face-offs on the LAC in recent years. These measures, including the revival of several mechanisms, are crucial for addressing the trust deficit created by the standoff in Ladakh. Moreover, both sides continue to have some 50,000 troops stationed in proximity to the LAC, and de-escalation remains a pressing matter.
New Delhi seems to have made a realistic assessment about conducting negotiations with Beijing while addressing the contradiction of raising strategic issues, and simultaneously ensuring that the overall relationship does not take a hit and lead to other issues, especially for the economy. This also comes amidst great global churn that have rendered older alignments irrelevant. This is indeed the right approach. India must negotiate with self-interest in mind. Keeping in mind the size and might of China today and the uncertainty unleashed by the policies of the Trump administration in the US, it is best to engage rather than take a confrontationist approach. India needs to buy time to build its strategic and economic reserves, rather than obsess about what China does in the immediate neighbourhood. For sure, China's presence in the backyard is a concern, but this should not limit India's vision of the bigger picture, which should be centred on managing peace on the border and growing the economy.
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