BEIJING'S BLAME GAME

China’s State Council tells THE WEEK that the border situation is “very dangerous”; that India is the “aggressor” that broke its word; and that Indian leaders and media should stop adding fuel to the fire

- RABI BANERJEE

When Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014, many in China saw him as a man of development who had, as Gujarat chief minister, travelled to their land looking for investment. Policymakers in China had then told their president, Xi Jinping, who had taken office in 2013: “This Indian prime minister is a resolute leader with remarkable charisma. Frugal, clean and effective on social media, he looks like a saint, combining tradition and modernity.” It seemed like a time for change, and Xi was keen on India joining his One Belt One Road project, now known as the Belt and Road Initiative. It sought to connect China with Europe by road and sea, and South Asia through a Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor. Though India declined to join the BRI, the friendship between Modi and Xi seemed unaffected. But now the two countries are in conflict, with their soldiers massacring each other in June, the bloodiest violence in more than four decades. Though all-powerful—he is the president of the country, the general secretary of the Communist Party, and the chairman of the Central Military Commission—Xi is not above criticism in China. His decisions are debated and questioned in the Politburo and the Central Committee. He is now under pressure, as it was he who had sold the BRI idea to the party. The onus is on him to make it a reality, and India’s resistance does not suit him.