{"id":25481,"date":"2024-04-13T06:03:24","date_gmt":"2024-04-13T06:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/13\/china-had-a-special-place-in-modis-heart-now-its-a-thorn-in-his-side\/"},"modified":"2024-04-13T06:03:24","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T06:03:24","slug":"china-had-a-special-place-in-modis-heart-now-its-a-thorn-in-his-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/13\/china-had-a-special-place-in-modis-heart-now-its-a-thorn-in-his-side\/","title":{"rendered":"China Had a \u2018Special Place\u2019 in Modi\u2019s Heart. Now It\u2019s a Thorn in His Side."},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/08\/multimedia\/00india-china-01-mtbg\/00india-china-01-mtbg-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"China Had a \u2018Special Place\u2019 in Modi\u2019s Heart. Now It\u2019s a Thorn in His Side.\" title=\"China Had a \u2018Special Place\u2019 in Modi\u2019s Heart. Now It\u2019s a Thorn in His Side.\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Narendra Modi once looked up to China. As a business-friendly Indian state leader, he traveled there repeatedly to attract investment and see how his country could learn from its neighbor\u2019s economic transformation. China, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/news\/politics-and-nation\/narendra-modi-seeks-chinese-investments-for-gujarat\/articleshow\/10667923.cms?from=mdr\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">he said<\/a>, has a \u201cspecial place in my heart.\u201d Chinese officials cheered on his march to national power as that of \u201ca political star.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But not long after Mr. Modi became prime minister in 2014, China made clear that the relationship would not be so easy. Just as he was celebrating his 63rd birthday by hosting China\u2019s leader, Xi Jinping \u2014 even sitting on a swing with him at a riverside park \u2014 hundreds of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/carnegieindia.org\/2023\/08\/31\/impasse-at-lac-examination-of-2013-2014-and-2015-standoffs-pub-90447\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Chinese troops<\/a> were intruding on India\u2019s territory in the Himalayas, igniting a weekslong standoff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A decade later, ties between the world\u2019s two most populous nations are almost completely broken. Continued border incursions flared into a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/06\/16\/world\/asia\/indian-china-border-clash.html\" title=\"\">ferocious clash<\/a> in 2020 that threatened to lead to all-out war. Mr. Modi, a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/23\/world\/asia\/india-election-federalism.html\" title=\"\">strongman who controls<\/a> every lever of power in India and has expanded its relations with many other countries, appears uncharacteristically powerless in the face of the rupture with China.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As Mr. Modi seeks a third term in an election that begins on Friday, the tensions weigh heavily on the overarching narrative of his campaign: that he is making India a major global power and, by extension, restoring national pride. Far from the 2,100-mile border, along every avenue where India seeks to expand, China looms as a fierce competitor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In India\u2019s own backyard in South Asia, China has used its vast resources \u2014 the fruits of economic reforms introduced decades before India\u2019s \u2014 to challenge Indian pre-eminence, courting partners through infrastructure deals and gaining access to strategic ports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">More broadly, China and India are <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/09\/12\/world\/asia\/india-china-global-south.html\" title=\"\">vying to lead<\/a> the developing nations of the so-called global south. When India hosted the Group of 20 summit last year, using it to showcase its support of poorer countries, Mr. Xi skipped the event. China has also been a major roadblock in India\u2019s campaign to gain a coveted permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cToday, you encounter an India which perhaps you had never seen before, in many senses,\u201d said Nirupama Menon Rao, a former Indian ambassador to China and the United States. \u201cI think the Chinese are increasingly aware of it, and they would still like to pull us down, to create barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">India\u2019s estrangement with China has provided an opening for Western nations to expand defense and economic ties with New Delhi, a distressing development for Beijing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">India signed a series of deals with the United States last year to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/17\/world\/asia\/india-us-defense.html\" title=\"\">strengthen military cooperation<\/a>. India has also drawn closer to the other two members of the so-called Quad, Australia and Japan, as the group works to counter China\u2019s projection of power.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In addition, India sees an opportunity as the United States and Europe look for alternatives to China as a place to make their products. One early success has been <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/02\/business\/india-iphone-tech-manufacturing.html\" title=\"\">sharply increased production of iPhones<\/a> in India.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But even with these openings, China continues to expose Indian insecurities. The Chinese economy is about five times the size of India\u2019s, and China remains India\u2019s second-biggest trade partner (after the United States), exporting about six times as much to India as it imports. China spends more than three times what India does on its military, giving its forces a significant advantage across land, sea and air.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Indian military, which has long struggled to modernize, is now forced to be conflict-ready <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/09\/24\/world\/asia\/india-military-china-pakistan.html\" title=\"\">on two fronts<\/a>, with China to India\u2019s east and archrival Pakistan to its west.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Tens of thousands of troops from both India and China remain on a war footing high in the Himalayas four years after the deadly skirmishes broke out in the disputed Eastern Ladakh region, where both countries have been building up their military presence. Nearly two dozen rounds of negotiations have failed to bring disengagement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Although the political opposition has tried to paint Mr. Modi as weak in the face of Chinese encroachment, the border incursions are unlikely to hurt him much politically, given the lack of news coverage from a largely <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/03\/world\/asia\/india-modi-ayodhya-media.html\" title=\"\">sympathetic Indian media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Still, Mr. Modi has had to prioritize billions of dollars for border infrastructure and military upgrades as India still struggles to cover the basic needs of its 1.4 billion people. His government is drawing up plans to repopulate hundreds of border villages as a second line of defense against the constant threat of Chinese encroachment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">S. Jaishankar, Mr. Modi\u2019s external affairs minister, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yGlVi389U1o\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">admitted<\/a> recently that there were \u201cno easy answers\u201d to the dilemma posed by India\u2019s aggressive neighbor. \u201cThey are changing, we are changing,\u201d Mr. Jaishankar <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=H4CKA84_HzM\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a>. \u201cHow do we find an equilibrium?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a book published in 2020, just as he had taken over as Mr. Modi\u2019s trusted foreign policy architect, Mr. Jaishankar wrote that the tensions between the United States and China set \u201cthe global backdrop\u201d for India\u2019s choices in a \u201cworld of all against all.\u201d India\u2019s ambitions as a major power, he wrote, would require a juggling act: \u201cengage America, manage China, cultivate Europe, reassure Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">India\u2019s rise as a large, growing economy has allowed it to hold its ground \u2014 working with any partner it can benefit from \u2014 in a polarized and uncertain world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even as India has expanded defense ties with the United States and doubled bilateral trade over the past decade, to about $130 billion in goods alone, it has resisted American pressure to reconsider its strong relations with Russia. India has deepened connections with Europe and the Middle East, too; trade with the United Arab Emirates alone has reached $85 billion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While India remains wary of becoming a pawn in the West\u2019s fight with Beijing, and has not forgotten its frosty history with the United States, China has become an unavoidable focus after being a secondary threat for much of modern Indian history.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">India\u2019s socialist founding prime minister was accommodating of Communist China, but the bonhomie was shattered by a monthlong war in 1962 that left thousands dead. The relationship began to normalize in the 1980s even as incursions continued, and open channels of communication kept tensions down and elevated trade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt was a different China,\u201d said Ms. Rao, the former top diplomat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The situation changed in the years before Mr. Modi took office, she said. As its economy soared, China began flexing its muscles \u2014 investing heavily in its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, which India saw as threatening its security and spheres of influence, and moving more aggressively on its borders and in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Still, Mr. Modi, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/02\/11\/world\/asia\/us-reaches-out-to-indian-opposition-leader-it-once-rebuked.html\" title=\"\">blacklisted by the United States<\/a> when he was a state leader over his role in bloody religious riots, continued to extend a hand to Beijing. As prime minister, he did not allow the embarrassment of the Chinese incursion in 2014 to dampen his red-carpet welcome to Mr. Xi. His subtle message \u2014 a warning that \u201ca little toothache can paralyze the entire body\u201d \u2014 carried the hope that Mr. Xi would come around.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That hope ended with the deadly 2020 clash in Eastern Ladakh. Now, it is clear that New Delhi is resigned to a long-term threat from China, a shift evident in Mr. Modi\u2019s push for road and tunnel construction in border areas to support a large troop presence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Over the past five years, more than 2,200 miles of roads have been built along the border. In the Kashmir region, over 2,000 workers have been busy for three years digging a high-altitude tunnel that will improve connectivity to Ladakh.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When the tunnel project, which will cost more than $850 million, is completed, it will ensure that traffic moves year round, and reduce travel time by hours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cFor four months, the supplies to the Indian Army were cut off because the road would get closed,\u201d said Harpal Singh, the project head. \u201cAfter this tunnel is complete, that will not happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Modi\u2019s government is also trying to revive hundreds of villages along the border to fortify defenses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Through a program called Vibrant Villages, the government is working to develop infrastructure, extend services and nurture tourism in the hope of reversing the economic migration that created \u201cghost villages.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhat India could have done in the last 20 years, they have to do now in two,\u201d said \u200b\u200bSonam Murup, a retired Indian Army officer from Ladakh, referring to infrastructure development in his area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cOur situation is much better now,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when you look toward the Chinese side, you can see villages full of lights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Joy Dong contributed reporting from Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/13\/world\/asia\/india-china-modi.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Narendra Modi once looked up to China. As a business-friendly Indian state leader, he traveled there repeatedly to attract investment and see how his country could learn from its neighbor\u2019s economic transformation. China, he said, has a \u201cspecial place in my heart.\u201d Chinese officials cheered on his march to national power as that of \u201ca [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/08\/multimedia\/00india-china-01-mtbg\/00india-china-01-mtbg-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[168,2462,3135,1401,3620,6303,30553],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25481"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25483,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25481\/revisions\/25483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}