Chinese, Japanese premiers come courting India

Chinese, Japanese premiers come courting India
Home > India News Posted on 08 April 2005

Chinese, Japanese premiers come courting India

New Delhi : It is a measure of the emergence of India as a rising economic giant that this month will see almost back to back visits by leaders of the world's fastest growing economy and its second largest.

While Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrives in India over the weekend, beginning his visit - like so many other leaders - from the nation's hi-tech capital in Bangalore, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi comes here in the last week of the month to build on growing trade and economic ties.

If China is the world's fastest growing economy, registering an average growth rate of nine percent during the last two decades, the Japanese economy has recovered from bouts of recession to retain its position as the world's second largest after the United States.

India, on the other hand, has progressively unshackled its economy from bureaucratic controls since 1991 to become one of the fastest growing economies with an average growth rate of over six percent in recent years.

The visits by the Chinese and Japanese leaders reflect the realisation in New Delhi, Beijing and Tokyo that in cooperation rather than confrontation lies the good of all.

India and China have already put aside their protracted border dispute while pushing enhanced economic and trade ties.

With bilateral trade ballooning from a mere $1.5 billion in 1998-99 to cross $13.6 billion last year, both countries are now looking at a target of $25-30 billion in the next five years, Indian officials said.

According to Chinese Ambassador Sun Yuxi, China and India - accounting for a third of the world population between them - are discussing a free trade agreement. "If this is achieved it will be the largest free trade area anywhere in the world," he said.

Officials involved in negotiating various agreements with the Chinese and Japanese said trade and economic cooperation would be the main thrust areas.

Japan, which has been unsure of the direction of India's economic orientation and had shied away from investing in the country, appears to have realised that New Delhi's economic reforms are irreversible.

Like the rest of the world, the Japanese have set aside reservations about India's nuclear policy and lifted punitive sanctions of 1998.

The Japanese prime minister's visit is seen as a signal to the country's business, which takes the cue from the government, that India is a promising investment destination.

Visiting Japanese officials acknowledged that by being over cautious, they might have missed the bus in India where South Korean and other investors have done extremely well.

The potential for India-China-Japan cooperation has been discussed at various forums and terms like "axis" and "alliance" have all been applied to the concept.

In an article titled "China-Japan-India axis strategy, an all round economic and political cooperation", Feng Zhaokui, a research fellow at Japan Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Science, discussed the possibility of political, economic and security cooperation among the three countries.

Liu Xuecheng, a researcher with the China Institute of International Studies, in a paper on the same subject said in the present and future Asian cooperation, China, Japan and India shoulder historic responsibilities.

They need mutual cooperation and coordination though thorny problems still exist. The three countries need to dispel doubts, enhance trust and avoid negative competition, Liu said.

--(c) Indo Asian News Service