Abstract “The India-China relationship is likely to be the most complex, perhaps the most competitive relationship between two of the world's mega-states in the twenty-first century. Their cooperative interactions will be edgy and formal, often brittle – irrespective of public professions to the contrary.
The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) hosted outgoing Chinese Ambassador H.E. Le Yucheng for a farewell cum interaction on India-China relations on 05 April 2016.
Steady Growth. Although some signs of a somewhat waning economy are now visible in China (economic growth rate sliding down from 10.5% in 2010 to 7.4% in 2014) she has experienced a steady growth cycle for the past two decades, catapulting the country as the world’s second largest economy. Click here to read full Paper
Geo-Political Context The Chinese White Paper on defence of 2015 and the papers issued earlier have been emphasizing that their “national defense policy is defensive in nature... and will never seek hegemony or expansion.” Yet, countries that have been at the receiving end of China’s assertive policies in South China or East China Sea would tend to think otherwise. Click here to read full Paper
On 12 January 2016, the VIF held an informal interaction with Prof. Yu Longyu, Director of Centre for Indian Studies, Shenzhen University, China, focusing on the role intellectuals, especially writers and teachers, potentially can play in improving ties between China and India. While the interaction lay centered around literary communications between China and India, invariably it got intermingled with issues of conflict and cooperation.
The recent summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a watershed one in more than one respect. In the 15 years of its existence as a regional grouping, the SCO is on the verge of a new phase in its evolution. A phase that is complex and complicated.
1. The Xiangshan, or Fragrant Hills, conference was held from 16 to 18 October 2015 at China National Convention Center in Beijing. Lt Gen Ravi Sawhney was invited from the Vivekananda International Foundation to attend this conference. His observations/comments are given in the succeeding paragraphs.
1. A five member delegation led by the VIF Director Gen N C Vij visited China from 15 to 22 Sep, 2015 at the invitation of the China Institute for International Studies (CIIS). The delegation comprised :- Gen NC Vij Lt Gen Ravi Sawhney Amb TCA Rangachari Vice Adm Anup Singh Mr Madhav Sharma, CII representative from Shanghai
The VIF on Aug 6th 2015 invited H.E. Yucheng, China’s Ambassador to India, for an interaction on India-China relationship. Amb Satish Chandra, Lt Gen Ravi Sawhney, Amb Rajagopalan, Lt Gen JS Bajwa, among others, interacted with him on a broad range of bilateral issues, while General NC Vij, Director, VIF, moderated the discussions.