Maalan NARAYANAN (India)
Speech delivered at Media Leaders’ Round Table 2015 at Boao Asia Forum Boao China on March 26 2015
More than 1,600 years ago, a 65-year old Chinese monk named Fa Xian (Fa-Hien) made his maiden pilgrimage to India to look for Buddhist scriptures. The route along which he travelled was later called the Silk Road, and the route he chose to go back to China via the Indian Ocean was named the Maritime Silk Road. The Silk Road embodies the spirit of peace, cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, mutual learning and hard work.
President Xi Jinping brings the spirit of the ancient Silk Road up to date by calling for the joint development of an economic belt along the Silk Road and a Maritime Silk Road of the 21st century. The “Belt” and “Road” initiatives aim to work with neighbouring countries to speed up the development of Asia.. They will contribute to greater connectivity and complementarity among east Asia, central Asia, south Asia, southeast Asia and west Asia, and help to develop and improve our supply chain, industrial chain and value chain. It will, thus, bring pan-Asian and Eurasian regional cooperation to a new level.
These initiatives help to boost infrastructure development and structural innovation, to lower costs and barriers of trade and investment, and to drive greater reform and opening up by regional countries.
I understand that some of the existing projects of cooperation between our two countries, like the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor and Chinese industrial parks in India, can be included in the cooperation.
From India’s point of view, there need to be five links in the chain. The first is policy. We should strengthen policy coordination by making use of bilateral mechanisms such as China-India Strategic Economic Dialogue to increase the convergence of our strategy of development.
The second link is roads. We should explore the possibility of improving cross-border transportation infrastructure in the border areas without dispute to work for a transport network linking China and India.
The third link is trade and investment. India would be happy if China comes forward to expand its investment in India and reduce our trade imbalance..
The fourth “link” is currency. We can work for financial settlement in Chinese yuan and Indian rupee, encourage currency swap, strengthen banking cooperation and set up regional financial institutions for development to bring down transaction costs
The fifth link is people. Besides existing people-to-people exchange mechanisms, we should continue to enhance exchanges, especially at the grassroots level, establish more sister cities and provide more facilities for people-to-people exchanges to promote friendship between China and India.
Having said this I would like to share some of the concerns of the Indian establishments. As China’s economic interests in the Indian Ocean expanded rapidly in recent decades, Beijing’s naval interest and profile in the region also grew steadily. Over the last decade, Beijing has also focused on building maritime infrastructure in the Indian Ocean. Its investment in the development of new ports at Gwadar in Pakistan, Hambantota in Sri Lanka, and Kyaukphyu in Myanmar, has generated much concern in India about China’s long-term intentions in the Indian Ocean.
Although these are all civilian ports for now, Delhi worries that they may portend a permanent Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean. Beijing has also cultivated special political relationships with key countries in the region and has stepped up its maritime diplomacy.
India understands that it can’t stop its neighbours from cooperating with China on infrastructure development at a moment when Delhi is doing exactly the same with Beijing. This is a dilemma, but can be resolved through confidence building and dialogues.
My take on this predicament is instead of blocking China’s silk road initiatives in the region, Delhi must actively participate and shape the agenda. At the same time, it must leave its neighbours in no doubt that there are certain red lines regarding India’s security that can’t be transgressed in their collaboration with China
Personally, as a non political, non governmental person, what interests me in the belt and road initiatives are the initiatives to strengthen exchanges among people of different nations, regions, classes and religions, to consolidate the foundation of friendship among people and contribute positively to peace and development in Asia.
Let us follow the footsteps of our ancestors along the ancient Silk Road. For the benefit of our region, let us work together for common prosperity
