New Delhi, Jan. 30: Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will tomorrow confront his first big diplomatic test as foreign secretary – mollifying an upset Beijing after the clearest signal by any Indian government that New Delhi’s vision for China’s neighbourhood converges with that of Washington.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar-pic: PTI
Jaishankar will tomorrow fly to Beijing with foreign minister Sushma Swaraj for a four-day visit that has been in the pipeline for months, but has now evolved into a trip critical for India to recalibrate ties with China and ascertain the concerns of that country’s leadership.
India and the US had unveiled a first-of-its-kind joint vision for the Asia Pacific region last Sunday during American President Barack Obama’s visit, a document that for many in China has reconfirmed fears of a New Delhi-Washington alliance aimed at containing their country.
Jaishankar yesterday took over as foreign secretary from Sujatha Singh, sacked six months before her term was to end.
“It’s only natural that the Chinese should have questions, and possibly concerns,” an official familiar with the planned trip tomorrow said. “And we want to address those concerns, and reaffirm what we’ve long said – that this isn’t about containing anyone, but about safeguarding Indian interests.”
The China visit comes on the heels of Obama’s trip where the leaders of India and the US engaged in an unprecedented display of bonhomie – and appeared to have ironed out differences that have held back New Delhi’s ties with Washington for the past five years.
But India and the US also agreed to enhance maritime, intelligence, strategic and economic cooperation in the Asia Pacific region under an umbrella agreement that for the first time signals a convergence of interests in the region.
“We have a shared approach, and I think that’s very important,” US ambassador to India Richard Verma told television channel Headlines Today.
Beijing has long viewed the deep military and strategic alliance between the US, Japan, Australia and Singapore as a threat. For China, the addition of India to any such grouping – even informally – would represent an attempt to corner it.
Indian officials have long argued that New Delhi’s relationship with Beijing is independent of its ties with Washington. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke at least twice about how the world had enough room for both India and China to grow.
That remains the official position of the foreign office. But given Beijing’s conviction that Washington’s “re-balance” to the Pacific is aimed at containing it, many diplomats admit the joint vision document released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Obama could appear to China as a not-so-subtle shift from New Delhi’s past policies.
China’s foreign ministry has already reacted to the vision document – demanding that “external countries” stay out of its disputes with other nations in the Asia Pacific. China is locked in a series of maritime territorial disputes in the South and East China Sea.
But in Jaishankar, the Modi government has a rare diplomat and negotiator familiar with both China and the US in a manner few of those who preceded him can boast.
The longest-serving Indian ambassador in China – for almost five years – Jaishankar has also spent six years on the Americas desk at the ministry of external affairs headquarters, first as undersecretary and then as joint secretary. Over the past 13 months, he has also been India’s ambassador to the US.
This morning, Chinese ambassador Le Yucheng visited Jaishankar at South Block for discussions on tomorrow’s visit.
“There’s really no other diplomat I can think of who enjoys the respect he does both in the US and China,” a veteran diplomat who has worked closely with Jaishankar said. “How he navigates this tightrope will be his best challenge.”
Sushma and Jaishankar will also meet their Russian counterparts in Beijing for Russia-India-China trilateral talks.
Jaishankar will also fly away from the still simmering defiance by his predecessor, Sujatha Singh, who today told NDTV she preferred “honesty over intellectual brilliance” and questioned why she was sacked.
Courtesy:The Telegraph