India, China can manage differences: National security advisor

Contending that India and China were capable of managing their relations despite differences, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon today said the two countries needed to grasp the opportunities offered by their economic transformation and evolving global situation.

Delving elaborately on Sino-Indian relations at a lecture here, he said there was a marked similarity of goals and the two countries should "actively consider together the next steps" in the evolution of their ties and evolve "a detailed framework for resolution of the boundary issue in a manner that is politically feasible for both leaderships".

The former foreign secretary said the two countries have already found the 'modus vivendi' (agreeing to disagree) to deal the boundary issue and to manage their different approaches to issues where their peripheries overlap. 

"India and China both cooperate and compete at the same time because of their interests and how they perceive the balance of power and situation around them," Menon said at a seminar organised by Indian Council for World Affairs to commemorate 60th anniversary of India-China diplomatic ties.

"While there may be differences in method and choice of tools, in most cases there is a marked similarity of goals," he said, adding "Naturally, the bilateral modus vivendi which has been in place for some time may need to be reworked periodically in the light of developments in our countries and around us."

Menon said there was space in Asia and the world for both India and China to grow and develop and "for us to do so in a way that is mutually-reinforcing, if we both wish it." 

As the two countries continue to pursue their interests, he said, "we also have the experience and ability in India and China to continue to manage our relationship successfully." 

He said it was "only on the basis of informed and supportive public opinion that we would be able to grasp the opportunities and move forward on the ambitious agenda that awaits India-China relations, the pursuit of which would place India-China relations on a sound footing for the 21st century."

In the immediate region in which both countries are located, there is common ground between India and China on combating terrorism and extremism, enhancing maritime security, and on the need for a peaceful environment to permit the domestic transformation of the two countries, Menon said.

The NSA identified climate change and financial crisis as other areas where the two countries have cooperated and could continue that.

"So long as their overwhelming pre-occupation remains their domestic transformation, and both understand that this goal requires a peaceful periphery, it is my understanding that the elements of competition in the bilateral relationship can be managed and the elements of congruence can be built
upon.

"As our interests get progressively more complex, the costs of withdrawal from engagement rise," he said. 

Menon warned that the emergence of "nativist" voices, and the loud expression of opinion could introduce volatility in preception. "We have all witnessed this phenomenon in India-China relations in the last year or so," he said.

"When the world is changing so rapidly, and when uncertainty in the international system is at unprecedented levels, neither India nor China can afford misperceptions or distortions of policy caused by a lack of understanding of each other's compulsions and policy processes," he said.

Menon disapproved of "the shrill and over excitable commentary on the relationship that has appeared in both countries in the last year or so." 

Speaking on the occasion, Chinese ambassador Zhang Yan said the two countries should further enhance mutual trust which is vital to a sound and stable relationship. 

"Without trust there can be no sustained and meaningful cooperation. Two countries should maintain the momentum of
high-level interaction, expand exchanges and cooperation at
all levels and in all fields," Zhang said.

He said efforts should be made by both China and India to properly handle public opinion which is "vitally important" to the development of the relations.        

"Two countries should provide correct guidance to the public opinion and avoid war of words," Zhang said.