The Indian Express, November 29, 1996

President Jiang Zemin is here with a fresh agenda, but India does not seem to be in a mood to change the subject. As usual, discussions will open with a reappraisal of the age-old ties between the two nations. The ghosts of Hiuen Tsang and Fa Hien will be dusted off and paraded. Platitudes voiced and the fossil record duly examined, the meet will then be open for business. Business as usual, that is.

Though the Ministry of External Affairs has hinted that it will be much blather about the ethics of M 11 missile exports and whether the Dalai Lama is better defined as a religious leader or a political exile. Some of the best minds in the country will be applied to the fate of the Indians in Hong Kong post-1997. It will be quite pointless because the Chinese will do what they are best at - sit through the monologue in inscrutable, completely receptive silence and then go ahead regardless with their original plans.

There is a perception problem about these visits that Indian foreign affairs pundits can never seem to deal with. Jaing's visit is not on the same level as the Rajiv-Deng talks in Beijing in 1988. This time, when India and China get together, it will be more on the lines of a couple of traders dickering in the marketplace. China, without access to the WTO, is looking to direct diplomacy to develop new market in Asia. Besides, with or without the sanction of trade communities elsewhere, it aims to become the trade leader of the region. It has the wherewithal to do so; all it needs now is new markets to fuel growth. So it would be naive to imagine that the Chinese delegation would be even remotely interested in moralistic option on its contribution to the Pakistani nuclear programme. Bill Clinton steered clear of human rights. Warren Christopher kept his own counsel on controversial issues on his last official visit to Beijing. Indian opinion should learn from them.

It is time to take a more pragmatic view of India-China relations. It should be realised that China favours Pakistan only because it saves a lot of bothersome strategic thinking about India. Besides, the Chinese are in the weapon trade mainly with the profit motive. Whether they sell to Pakistan, Iran or Iraq is not primarily determined by the quality of the bid. The rhetoric of the past has outlived its usefulness. Now, as China realises, it is more appropriate to fight battles in the marketplace. But should business have no relation to ethics? Should India not put its point across on Tiananmen, Tibet and disarmament? It should indeed, but not here and and now. Today, India exports steel, chrome ore, soyabeans and castor oil to China.

When the exports list also includes railway bogeys, ships, TV sets and trucks and in a positive trade balance situation - it will be time to talk human rights. For now, pragmatism will serve Indian interests far better.