A US expert on Indo-China relationship says there are growing voices within China for toughening stand against India. Lora Saalman, a Beijing-based associate in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment, observed here last week that recent opinions in the Chinese “independent media” advocated hardening of stance by Beijing vis-à-vis New Delhi.

In two interactive sessions in city, Saalman said in internal discourse in both the countries, the pressure on the respective Governments seemed to be rising for aggressive positioning.

“But the Chinese official response appeared mixed towards India,” she said.

Saalman’s observations was significant in the context of scheduled visit by the India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid to Beijing on May 9 amid India’s demand for reversal of “adverse incident” as also return to the status quo in Depsang Valley in Ladakh, where the Chinese troops reportedly intruded.

She felt the track I dialogue between the two countries was clouded by the land border disputes. She noted that India’s trade deficit with China has increased by nearly five times, from what it was in 2005-06.

Chinese market

Barriers to Chinese market kept out India’s high-value goods and services, she said. India, on the other hand, on “security” concerns, disallowed market access to a number of Chinese firms. Saalman also noted that China’s $1.18 billion Zangmu Hydroelectric project, with 15 dams, on upstream Brahmaputra would give control of strategic resources for India.

She also noted the Chinese political influence and military presence in Indian Ocean oil route, which accounts for 85 per cent of China’s oil imports. She observed that Cino-Pak relations have in the past few decades undergone a transformation because of China’s domestic interest in its west.

She felt there was a need for a track II dialogue (among academics and researchers) between the two countries.

> jayanta.mallick@thehindu.co.in

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