Xi Jin Ping will be in India tomorrow

[DharmaSpace]

BEIJING:  Chinese President Xi Jinping's trip to India this week highlights a subtle shift in the regional power dynamics. While on the one hand, it marks warmer ties between the two Asian giants, challenging China's traditional relationship with Pakistan, on the other, it opens a new chapter in Beijing's ongoing competition for influence with arch-rival Japan.

Xi is due in New Delhi on Wednesday for a three-day visit focused on trade, investment and the resolution of decades-old border disputes. As the world's second-largest economy and with a proven track record at building highways, railways, and industrial zones, China has much to offer India.

While ties between India and China have been steadily growing for years, it got a major boost under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has signalled his wishes to pursue a more vigorous foreign policy. Xi is the first Chinese head of state to visit India in eight years, while Prime Minister Li Keqiang made India his first overseas destination shortly after taking office last year.

In the first weeks of his administration, PM Modi spoke repeatedly to senior Chinese officials, and during a recent visit to India, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi described the new relationship as "the emerging tip of a massive buried treasure."

There's certainly plenty of room for growth. China may be India's biggest trading partner, but commerce between the two countries dropped to an anemic $65 billion last year, with China exporting $48 billion more goods than it imported.

For PM Modi, boosting trade and foreign investment is critical to making good on his campaign promise of creating jobs for the 13 million youths entering the job market each year.

China also has a strong vested interested in preventing India from drawing too close to the West and especially to Japan, which has enthusiastically courted the Modi government.

Recently, PM Modi paid a five-day visit to Japan, bringing home pledges of billions of dollars in aid and investment and an agreement to strengthen their economic and security ties. While in Japan, he also emphasised on the value of their shared commitment to democracy -- in contrast to China's authoritarian communist system.

In the light of that visit, Xi is expected to make investment pledges matching or exceeding the $35 billion Mr Modi received in Japan - a sign of how the Indian PM has been able to leverage the rivalry between China and Japan to maximize gains for India.

"Good relations with India are a key part of China's regional strategy and Xi's visit creates the opportunity for direct face-to-face communication on problems that still exist, such as the border issue," said Zhao Gancheng, Director of the Asia-Pacific Center of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies.

While both Xi and Modi are strong leaders who've shown initiative, they're constrained on the border issue by domestic sentiment, particularly rising nationalism in China, said Jayadev Ranade, president of the New Delhi-based think tank Center for China Analysis and Strategy.

"I don't see a major breakthrough on the border issue. But even if it is discussed in a tangible fashion, which I expect the Modi government will do, it will be a move forward," he said.

Talks have yet to produce a long-term solution, but until they do, China says its policy is to avoid conflict.

Xi, however, won't be stopping in on long-time ally Pakistan - a further evidence of a growing Chinese ambivalence toward Pakistan. In past, China and Pakistan had found common cause in checking India's growth as a regional power, but China's own stratospheric rise has alleviated that need.

Beijing also has grown increasingly concerned with the threat to stability in its northwestern region of Xinjiang posed by Islamic radicals hiding out in northwestern Pakistan.

At the same time, Pakistan's political dysfunction and economic malaise offer little incentive for Chinese companies to take on the sort of major projects there that they're now eyeing for India.

The Premier Xi Jin Ping is due to visit India in a trip that promises more jobs for the Indian people and a spark to jump start India's economy to another level. With 13 million youth entering the job market this year, India need to shake off its sluggish economy and bring its economy to a whole new level. I think we will be looking at greater and warmer relations between China and India.

India has not paid too much attention to all that CTA had been doing, their actions to start the ban etc etc, so given that the visit of the Chinese premier will attract much media attention on Asia's Giants will this be a good opportunity to protest the ban during the Chinese premier visit, not to embarrass India or China but to let the world know there is a ban on Dorje Shugden practitioners and we ask the INdian and Chinese governments to be aware of such an issue?   

[shugdenpromoter]

I just read this earlier. I wonder how CTA will "compete" with what China has and will offer to India. CTA needs to get their act together and stop irritating China before they provide conditions towards the trade ties with India. Tibetans in India might loose their status soon if CTA does not do anything.

This is a bigger issue which CTA as a "government for the people" should do rather then attacking  Shugden lamas from all over the world and coming out with the "hate list". We are no longer living in the stone age.

" The visiting Chinese president, who is travelling with a delegation of over 100 senior business executives, including the heads of China Harbour, China Railway Construction Group and Huawei, as well as of the four biggest Chinese banks, is expected to announce some $100 billion of Chinese investment commitments over the next five years"

" Bilateral trade volume has multiplied several hundredfold in the last three decades, crossing $70 billion USD by the end of 2013 from a level of only $30 million in 1992. (The trade balance is, however, skewed 2 to 1 in China's favor.) China has now overtaken the U.S. as India's largest single trading partner, and the two countries seem well on course to reach their proclaimed target of $100 billion in annual trade by 2015"

Source : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shashi-tharoor/india-china-have-growth-the-west_b_5819822.html

[DharmaSpace]

The visit of Xi Jin Ping to India is a first since the days of Jawarharlal Nehru. There is much enthusiasm and hope with the visit of Xi Jin Ping, it is unprecedented to stay the least. With the thawing of relations between the Chinese and India, a greater sense of cooperation lies ahead between the two countries. China is already prepared to invest into India and have signed three major investments in Gujarat.

Where does that leave the CTA? Despite the Tibetan protest, China and India carried on their business as usual and Prime Minister does not seem to place the Tibetan issue in any top priority or concern during the Chinese Premier's visit. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Chinese-President-Xi-Jinpings-India-visit-After-six-decades-a-Chinese-leader-gets-public-welcome/articleshow/42741311.cms

[icy]

No, as we can see Prime Minister Modi does not place the Tibetan issue in any top priority or concern during the Chinese Premier's visit.  Which nation would want to sacrifice their economy and survival?  Surely they would know better not to be loggerheads and be placed in the Chinese freezer like a case in point, the United Kingdom.  Heralding good relations with China is their top priority and concern these days and hence CTA days are numbered with China and India's good standing.  CTA would not have much significance much longer and their voice and entity would no doubt be drown and so drown with the Shugden ban that is for certainty.  Perhaps, for CTA to get into the good books with China, they need to practise the protector Dorje Shugden which will be an excellent strategy than to throwing eggs at the Great Wall.

[icy]

This is a huge embarrassment and disgrace to their kind host, India as Tibetans in Delhi Protest Chinese President's Visit To India - TV9.  A Tibetan youth also tried to break into where President Xi stays and the Mahatma Ghandi Ashram in Ahmedabad during the Chinese Premier's visit.  The kindness of their host country, India has been trampled upon.

Tibetans in Delhi Protest Chinese President's Visit To India - TV9	Small | Large

[jamyang_sonam]

being a "guest" in India, the CTA and the Tibetan people should behave and respect their Host and the Chinese Government, bacause it is a tie betweeen both Country, the CTA is attracting more problem and creating issue for the Tibetan who are staying in India, with DS ban and discrimination on the practitioner and blaming it China, they give a bad name to the Indian Government.

[Galen]

It is great to know that India and China has decided to restart a long relationship again. No doubt that India is now a growing economy and definitely China would want to tap into their resources to gain wealth and intern strengthen their relationship. India also wants to grow economically and who is better than the biggest economy in the world right now. India would not even say anything about them giving refugee status to the CTA and would not jeopardise this relationship. Definitely the CTA does not have a voice to demand so. They could have been a obedient resident and not make any trouble, but surely some Tibetan came to protest and make a ruckus of the situation. Shame shame.

The CTA would be lucky that China does not demand India to reverse their kindness of providing refugee land to Tibetans and the CTA.

[DharmaSpace]

Chinese President Xi Jinping is on his maiden visit to India and returns home today.
Among a host of issues and actors that took the centre stage before and during Xi's visit were the Tibetans in India who were on an overdrive to make appeals, sign petitions and organise protests against his tour.
But, the question remains. What do the activists, the Tibetan parliament based in Dharamsala and its head, Lobsang Sangay, sympathisers in India as well as the Dalai Lama - who are using Xi's visit as an opportunity to remind the Indian and the Chinese governments of a 'Tibet issue' - really expect when they ask Narendra Modi to 'save' or 'stand up' for Tibet?
While the Dharamsala establishment's appeal for resolution of the Tibet issue through a 'mutually beneficial policy of middle-way approach' is comparatively reasonable to take up, Tibetans should not be disappointed that nothing came out of the Xi-Modi meeting.
It was the first such high-level state to state meeting between the two leaders.
For Modi, it was more of an opportunity to take forward his much-touted agenda of boosting India's trade and economic development by courting Chinese investment. It is a different story that Xi finally committed to only one fifth of the hyped investment of 100 billion dollars over the next five years.
There were, however, speculations that Xi himself might bring up the Tibet issue with Modi. In a news report on August 30, Ma Jiali, an expert on India at the Communist Party School in Beijing, confidently suggested that Xi would be raising the issue of 'existence of the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamsala'.
He counselled that 'India should keep its promise about adhering to one-China policy and give no importance to forces trying to split China'.
In what can be seen as a response to such exhortations from the Chinese government routed through its intellectuals, Sushma Swaraj, India's foreign minister, reportedly argued on September 9 that 'for India to agree to a one-China policy, China should reaffirm a one-India policy'.

Swaraj's statement indicated that India, in congruence with its approach to not mention Tibet in any of its joint statements with China since 2010, would continue with this convenient policy - which it did.
However, her statement also indicated that India was flexible enough to agree to a 2003-type quid pro quo when India rephrased its recognition of 'Tibet as a region of China' to 'Tibet Autonomous Region is a part of the territory of the People's Republic of China' in return for China's recognition of Sikkim as a part of India.
The question is what kind of a quid pro quo, if at all, can be envisaged in the future? Currently, the optimism of a breakthrough in the boundary dispute was sullied by news of tension along the LAC, among others.
As much as the Tibetans are dependent on India — given that the Tibetan exile government (the Central Tibetan Administration as it calls itself now) is based here, it is also a fact that Tibet remains the missing link in the India-China border dispute.
The Tibet issue is a left over problem from history; hence, the moral dilemma preventing India from abandoning it completely.

Moreover, having been based in India for more than 50 years now, with many born here, the Tibetan people have been able to establish some sort of affinity with the land and its people; not to mention many others who are interested and have taken up Indian citizenship.
Their leaders, in their bid to sell Tibet to the Indian imagination, have constantly emphasised historical Buddhist and cultural ties. Sections of the Indian political class have not acknowledged this link, which remains the motivating factor for allowing the Tibetans to reside here indefinitely.
Reflecting this religious and cultural link is the two days conference that brings together heads and members of about nine diverse religions of India at the Dalai Lama's behest beginning on Saturday, just a day afer Xi's departure.
The attempt to accentuate the strategic dimension in the India-Tibet link — Tibet as intrinsic to India's security — is also of relevance.

Lobsang Sangay, in the last few days, has been arguing that Tibet should be a 'core issue' for 'India and South Asia as a whole' just as it is for China. Since Lobsang Sangay's arrival in the Dharamsala scene in 2011, there has been some sort of a shift in its approach, visible in the leader's first 10 March speech in 2012 when he appealed to 'ASEAN and Saarc to include the Tibet issue in your agenda given Tibet's geopolitical and environmental significance affecting billions of Asians'. Previously, Tibetan campaigns were mainly directed at gaining Western support.
Since about 2010, even the Dalai Lama has changed his position when he stated that India's dealings with China with respect to Tibet was no longer 'over-cautious'. In the last few years, Tibetan parliamentarians in exile have been active in meeting with Indian politicians and leaders across various Indian states where they have been warmly received.
It would be useful to see whether these efforts contribute to a proactive Indian policy towards Tibet. Notably, Tibetan confidence in India has increased with Modi's ascendance to power and the invitation to Lobsang Sangay to attend his inaugural ceremony. But there are also skeptics who fear Modi might do a Nixon on China given China's economic clout. Like everybody says, one can only 'wait and watch'.
(The author is an associate fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies. Views expressed by the author are personal)
- See more at: http://www.hindustantimes.com/comment/analysis/tibetan-confidence-in-india-has-increased/article1-1266011.aspx#sthash.VXfGBj7A.dpuf

http://www.hindustantimes.com/comment/analysis/tibetan-confidence-in-india-has-increased/article1-1266011.aspx

The author offers consolatory kind of gestures towards the Tibetan and ask them to b patient. Very much like how CTA has asked the Tibetan people to be patient with them for more than half a century. On a geopolitical scale many countries especially the West have begun to shun their struggle, countries may allow to Dalai Lama to visit to maintain an imagery of being free and all about human rights, but it is just a facade. China's growing hegemony will turn CTA into nothing, in addition they are not bringing any fresh perspectives to negotiate with the Chinese. Japan and the US uses the Dalai Lama as a chess pawn to irritate the Chinese, so all countries have agenda in having the dalai lama and it is not for Tibetan freedom. 

India and China has so much to collaborate on economically, and with the tensions at the LAC, Tibetan issue are not that paramount after all. After all the Dorje Shugden issue affects not so much India and really now Tibetan people should resolve it peacefully. There are bigger things on a global level to look at, Tibetans should work towards unity by lifting the ban , and move on to other things. Time is running short the Dalai Lama with utmost respect cannot stay an aeon waiting for the Tibetan homeland issue to be resolved.  The dorje shugden ban and the unwillingness of CTA and the Dalai Lama to say that all Dorje Shugden people should not be discriminated or harassed and they need not to give up the practice is the only stumbling block, for Tibetans to focus as a united front. That everyone will be welcomed at facilities of Tibetan communities and they have all rights even to participate in government like CTA.

[icy]

Obviously, China is not desperate when India turned down their request to shut down the Tibetan Government-in-Exile based in Dharamsala in exchange for India’s request to change Beijing’s policy of issuing “stapled visas” to citizens of Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir which to them has more significant.  China can afford to play the waiting game, after all things are not permanent in reality, aren't they? 

Xi refuses 'stapled visa' roll back, Modi says no to 'One-China'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned down Chinese President Xi Jinping’s request to re-assert New Delhi’s commitment to “One-China policy” and shut down the Tibetan Government-in-Exile based in India.

Modi dug his heels in after Xi declined to make any commitment on India’s request to change Beijing’s policy of issuing “stapled visas” to citizens of Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

The bonhomie between the two leaders on the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad two days back had fuelled speculation about an imminent thaw in bilateral ties during the Modi-Xi meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. But  the face-off between border troops of the two countries along the Line of Actual Control overshadowed the talks and they could not make any significant headway in narrowing differences on other contentious issues.

The joint statement issued at the end of the Chinese President’s visit on Friday took note of India’s concern over growing imbalance in its trade with China. Xi assured Modi of taking “positive steps” to rebalance bilateral trade and address existing structural imbalances in commercial relations between the two countries.

Apart from setting up two industrial parks in Maharashtra and Gujarat, China also committed to invest $ 20 billion in India over the next five years. The pledged amount is much lower than what a diplomat of the communist country had told journalists in Mumbai ahead of Xi’s visit.

Chinese Consul General in Mumbai, Liu Youfa, was quoted by media that Xi’s visit would see China committing about $ 100 billion investment in India over the next five years. The diplomat had purportedly made the remark after Japan had committed to invest $ 35 billion in India during Modi’s recent visit to Tokyo and his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Sources told Deccan Herald that the Chinese President had requested Modi to reiterate a reference to One-China policy in the joint statement to be issued at the end of his visit.

But Modi, according to the sources, told Xi that his Government would not agree to return of the phrase in any bilateral diplomatic text as long as Beijing does not stop questioning India’s sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

India, earlier, routinely recognised Tibet Autonomous Region as an integral part of China in all the joint declarations and bilateral documents. It also remained committed to “One-China policy”, thus consistently denying recognition to the existence of Republic of China or Taiwan. New Delhi, however, has been keeping both the references out of all bilateral diplomatic texts since 2010, in response to China’s policy of issuing “stapled visas”.
 
Modi also turned down Xi’s request to restrict the activities of the Dalai Lama, whose advice to China to learn from India’s democracy was aired by TV channels.

[DharmaSpace]

Actually this should be an alarming thing for the CTA, that China has asked for CTA to be closed down only to Modi and the Indian government. Impermanence is really the order of the day, when Modi took over the India, not many envisioned that he would engage closely with the Chinese.

Well things could be very different after the 20 billion that China will pump into the Indian economy that, if China pulled out of Gujarat many jobs will be lost, many jobs lost means many votes lost for Modi and his party. PM Modi may feel it is a bit too early to offer the biggest thorn to China, the CTA. I wonder if this decision to sign up many investments in Gujarat could be Modi's eventual undoing? As PM modi's standing in the public eye depend a lot on how well things go in his state with the Chinese investment going in. 

It is even more crucial now that Tibetan unite and get their act together. Given CTA's record for violence would they attempt to sabotage Chinese investments in Gujarat? Time will tell I suppose. For goodness sake end the ban already CTA, there is nothing to be gained by carrying on the Dorje Shugden ban and CTA has much more pressing matters to concern themselves with. 

[Ringo Starr]

The Dalai Lama gets away with a lot as he is viewed by many Tibetans living in India as their "Guru" hence disobeying him would be a "big no no".

So the subject of lifting the ban on the practice of Dorje Shugden, which is by far a relatively insignificant issue in the eyes of the Indian and Chinese politicians, will not be solved in the India-China political arena.

Rather, the continued education of the Tibetans (in exile) regarding the Vajrayana tradition in general and Dorje Shugden in particular is the path to the lifting of the ban.

[kris]

A few years ago, i heard from the monks in Tibetan settlement said that many Indians are not happy with Tibetan because Tibetans are given tracks of land while the local Indians are not given lands. I think the tension between the Indians and Tibetans can be tense at time.

Onto this political stand between China and India, I think India at this point have no choice but to work with China especially in trade, and I am sure China president will "pressure" India on Tibetan issue, and since Tibetan settlements are not really giving India a good and easy time, I wonder what will happen to the status of Tibetan settlement.

I do pray that the political issues will not get into the way of practicing Buddhism, and Buddhism has recently been involved too much into the politics which in my opinion will hinder the practice. May the disputes be resolve very soon...

[icy]

India reiterates no anti-China activities by Tibetans.  Isn't this clearly the clamping down of anti-China activities of Tibetans in India influenced by Chinese over lucrative benefits to India?  I wonder how long more can CTA survive in India in the days to come.  China certainly will exert more pressure on India to shut down CTA completely in exchange for more trade treaties.  There is no doubt India have to succumb to superpower Chinese in favour of their own interest.  In which case, CTA will have to pack their bags soon and return to China. Where upon Chinese's only condition for their return is to embrace Dorje Shugden practice. 



(TibetanReview.net, Sep20, 2014) – India will not allow Tibetans to conduct anti-China political activities while China will open a new route via the Himalayan Nathu La Pass for Indian pilgrims travelling to the sacred Mt Kailash in western Tibet and invest US$20 million in India over the next five years, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency Sep 18-19. These agreements and understanding were reached between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the second of the latter’s three-day visit to India which began on Sep 17.

China’s consul-general in Mumbai had previously suggested a figure of $100 billion as his country’s investment over the next five years and this was seen as being meant to dwarf the Japanese investment of $35 million announced during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit.

The Chinese investments will be in India’s infrastructure and manufacturing sectors, including the railways and industrial parks, and are detailed in 12 agreements. China was also reported to have agreed to open the Chinese market for Indian goods and services. India’s trade deficit (excess of imports over exports) stood at $40 billion in 2013-14 from close to $ 1 billion in 2001-02.

Xi’s was only the third time a Chinese president had visited India.

India was the last stop of Xi’s four-nation tour in Central and South Asia. He had already visited Tajikistan, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. His visit to Pakistan has to be postponed due to the political disturbance there, with the opposition agitating to demand government’s resignation over alleged vote rigging.


http://www.tibetanreview.net/india-reiterates-no-anti-china-activities-by-tibetans/

[Blueupali]

Wow, that's interesting that India can say "no protests against Chinese from Tibetans...." they have some unusual laws in India, for a democracy.  For instance, going to a railway waiting room where it says "upper caste only."  So you know, I don't get how all these different countries get so worked up over protests--- I mean we are talking about protests, just telling China to leave Tibet or something.... okay, but I am American and though we allow protests (which is good) we also have some really crazy habits too, like letting people have pretty much uncontrolled access to firearms and starting wars right and left.  So, I am not judging, just commenting, that we as a world have some room for improvement.

[Blueupali]

I also want to add that it is very kind of India to let the Tibetans stay there; I notice Americans do not seem keen on opening the door to people escaping the sex trade and other oppresion from South America...