12-02-2004, 12:42 AM
Editorial in Pioneer, 1 Dec., 2004...
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The Pioneer Edit Desk
<b>For India, the two most important features of the recent ASEAN summit at Vientiene is clearly Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 40-minute-long meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Mr Wen Jiabao, and the signing of the historic ASEAN-India partnership agreement for peace, progress and shared prosperity with the 10 ASEAN countries. </b>Mr Singh's meeting with Mr Wen Ziabao strikingly underlined the transformation that has come into the relationship between two of the world's most populous and powerful countries since the border clashes of 1962 between them.
<b>The process began in 1976 with Mr KR Narayanan's appointment as India's ambassador in Beijing where Delhi had maintained a charge d'affaires-level representation since the clashes.</b> Yet, the going was slow and uneven and marked by awkward turns of event like China's invasion of Vietnam in 1979 during a visit by Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then Foreign Minister in the Janata Party's Government headed by Mr Morarji Desai. If Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's visit to China in 1988 ushered in a new climate in India-China ties, the process was considerably helped by the new orientation that marked China's approach to the world following its recovery from the chaos and anarchy of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) and the launching of its economic reforms programme in 1978.
With economic progress emerging as its principal concern, the quest for peace, the prerequisite for its single-minded pursuit, followed as a corollary. In India-China relations, the 1993 Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and the 1996 Agreement on Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field along the LAC, reflected Beijing's new hierarchy of priorities. With the border talks receiving a new fillip from National Security Adviser JN Dixit's recent visit to China, and two way India-China trade likely to total $ 12 billion in 2004, economic cooperation understandably featured prominently in the talks between Mr Singh and Mr Wen Jinbao.
<b>An important factor in all this has been India's emergence as an economic powerhouse to be courted for access to its huge and booming market. It is, therefore, not surprising that Mr Wen Jiabao told Mr Singh that his visit to India, scheduled for March, 2005, "was the most important event" on his agenda for the next year, and that his handshake with his Indian counterpart would "catch the attention of the world." </b>Also, in respect of both China's and ASEAN's relations with India, fundamentalist Islamist terrorism has emerged as a major factor. China faces it in Xinjiang; Islamist fundamentalists have killed its technicians in Pakistan.
Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and even Singapore are threatened by the Al Qaeda and its regional affiliates. Malaysia has to contend with increasingly aggressive Islamist fundamentalism. <b>Significantly, the India-ASEAN agreement signed in Vientiene not only outlines measures to boost trade, investment, tourism, cultural relations, sports and people-to-people contact between India and the ASEAN countries but also seeks to intensify efforts to combat terrorism and transnational crimes like drug trafficking, arms smuggling, human trafficking, sea piracy and money laundering-many of which are closely linked with terrorism. </b>Clearly, both India and ASEAN countries have displayed a remarkable ability to recognise their common concerns and act together, something which holds out a lesson for the SAARC countries.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->ASEAN highlights
The Pioneer Edit Desk
<b>For India, the two most important features of the recent ASEAN summit at Vientiene is clearly Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 40-minute-long meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Mr Wen Jiabao, and the signing of the historic ASEAN-India partnership agreement for peace, progress and shared prosperity with the 10 ASEAN countries. </b>Mr Singh's meeting with Mr Wen Ziabao strikingly underlined the transformation that has come into the relationship between two of the world's most populous and powerful countries since the border clashes of 1962 between them.
<b>The process began in 1976 with Mr KR Narayanan's appointment as India's ambassador in Beijing where Delhi had maintained a charge d'affaires-level representation since the clashes.</b> Yet, the going was slow and uneven and marked by awkward turns of event like China's invasion of Vietnam in 1979 during a visit by Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then Foreign Minister in the Janata Party's Government headed by Mr Morarji Desai. If Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's visit to China in 1988 ushered in a new climate in India-China ties, the process was considerably helped by the new orientation that marked China's approach to the world following its recovery from the chaos and anarchy of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) and the launching of its economic reforms programme in 1978.
With economic progress emerging as its principal concern, the quest for peace, the prerequisite for its single-minded pursuit, followed as a corollary. In India-China relations, the 1993 Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and the 1996 Agreement on Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field along the LAC, reflected Beijing's new hierarchy of priorities. With the border talks receiving a new fillip from National Security Adviser JN Dixit's recent visit to China, and two way India-China trade likely to total $ 12 billion in 2004, economic cooperation understandably featured prominently in the talks between Mr Singh and Mr Wen Jinbao.
<b>An important factor in all this has been India's emergence as an economic powerhouse to be courted for access to its huge and booming market. It is, therefore, not surprising that Mr Wen Jiabao told Mr Singh that his visit to India, scheduled for March, 2005, "was the most important event" on his agenda for the next year, and that his handshake with his Indian counterpart would "catch the attention of the world." </b>Also, in respect of both China's and ASEAN's relations with India, fundamentalist Islamist terrorism has emerged as a major factor. China faces it in Xinjiang; Islamist fundamentalists have killed its technicians in Pakistan.
Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and even Singapore are threatened by the Al Qaeda and its regional affiliates. Malaysia has to contend with increasingly aggressive Islamist fundamentalism. <b>Significantly, the India-ASEAN agreement signed in Vientiene not only outlines measures to boost trade, investment, tourism, cultural relations, sports and people-to-people contact between India and the ASEAN countries but also seeks to intensify efforts to combat terrorism and transnational crimes like drug trafficking, arms smuggling, human trafficking, sea piracy and money laundering-many of which are closely linked with terrorism. </b>Clearly, both India and ASEAN countries have displayed a remarkable ability to recognise their common concerns and act together, something which holds out a lesson for the SAARC countries.
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