Uneasy Dance With the Dragon

At the strategic dialogue in Beijing, India and China sought to ensure that their recent disagreements don’t add to the turbulence of a world in flux.

- Ananth Krishnan in Beijing

When Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar arrived on February 22 at the snow covered Diaoyutai state guesthouse, a massive complex that was once Mao Zedong’s residence in the heart of Beijing, his Chinese counterpart, Zhang Yesui, thanked him for, of all things, the weather. “Thank you for bringing our first snowfall of the year,” the executive vice-foreign minister said, adding hastily lest his remark be misconstrued, that this was “a positive sign” in Chinese culture. With the rest of the world in flux, officials in Delhi and Beijing say, both countries are this year hoping for a thaw in ties, strained in 2016 by frictions on several issues. From its continued shielding of Pakistani terrorist Masood Azhar at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to its stalling of India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), China appeared to be blatantly batting for its “all-weather” ally Pakistan, at the cost of its ties with India.

It was to arrest this perceived downward spiral that Jaishankar headed to Beijing, for what was the first expanded strategic dialogue between both countries at the foreign secretary level. Jaishankar arrived in Beijing at a time of great anxiety in the Chinese capital. On March 5, the Communist Party will preside over its last parliament session to approve policies before a once-in-five-years leadership congress, scheduled for September/October. Moreover, Chinese officials have been unnerved by the first month of Donald Trump’s presidency, steeling themselves for what many expect will be a bruising trade war and a more robust US response to Chinese muscle-flexing in the South China Sea.