Representational image
Representational image
Beijing on Friday renewed its call for a dragon-elephant tango, saying a China-India partnership was the “only right choice” for both countries, at a time US President Donald Trump has been upending the world order.
While this has been the Chinese refrain for several years — particularly after the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash that killed 20 Indian soldiers — it has been imbued with new urgency amid the geopolitical rumblings caused by Trump’s foreign policy.
“China and India are each other’s largest neighbours. China always believes that the two should be partners that contribute to each other’s success,” Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said.
“A cooperative pas de deux (dance duet) of the dragon and the elephant is the only right choice for both sides,” he added.
Wang Yi added: “As the two largest developing countries, China and India have a shared task to accelerate our countries’ development and revitalisation. There is every reason for us to support each other rather than undercut each other, work with each other rather than guard against each other. This is the path that truly serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples.”
Wang acknowledged the strides taken by both countries over the past few months to mend bilateral ties, and reaffirmed China’s stated position of not allowing the boundary question to eclipse the relationship.
India has, on the other hand, always maintained that peace and tranquillity in the border areas is crucial to the normalisation of the relationship, and asserted that this has been the understanding for 40 years.
“As important members of the Global South, we have the responsibility to take the lead in opposing hegemonism and power politics,” Wang said, without naming any country.
“We must not only safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of our countries, but also uphold the basic norms governing international relations. When China and India join hands, the prospects for greater democracy in international relations and a stronger Global South will improve greatly.”
Wang did not bring up the Quad, a grouping of the US, Japan, Australia and India that China views as a cliqué directed against Beijing.
In the works since 2007, the Quad was resurrected during Trump’s first stint as US President and was elevated to summit level in the Joe Biden years. The first meeting of Quad foreign ministers was held in Washington a day after Trump’s inauguration.
Target US
Wang said China would continue to retaliate against Washington’s “arbitrary tariffs” and accused the US of “meeting good with evil”, news agency AP reported.
“No country should fantasise that it can suppress China and maintain a good relationship with China at the same time,” he said. “Such two-faced acts are not good for the stability of bilateral relations or for building mutual trust.”
The US this week levied duties against China, Canada and Mexico over accusations of fentanyl smuggling,which the countries have called unjustified.
The duties were the latest in a series of retaliatory tariffs Washington and Beijing have imposed against one another since Trump’s return to office in January.