New Delhi: Former National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, on Friday, said that the Wuhan Summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping was a truce of sorts.
His statement was supported by former Ambassador to China, Shyam Saran who said that the summit was an effort by the two leaders to take back the relationship to stability it had for 10 years since 2003. The former diplomats were speaking at an event in Delhi.
The former NSA further added that global context did influence the relations between India and China but were definitely “not the drivers of it.” Expanding interests of both the countries, Menon added, could be on one of the reasons of stress in the relations of the two countries.
Modi and Xi met in Wuhan earlier this year in a landmark informal summit.
Interestingly, amid the trade war with the United States of America, China and India seemed to be heading for closer cooperation. The two countries might soon hold a maritime dialogue.
It wasn’t until June this year, after the Wuhan summit, that India clearly addressed China’s concerns. While talking about the Indo-Pacific region during the keynote address at the security forum — Shangri La Dialogue — Modi said, “It is normal to have partnerships on the basis of shared values and interests. India, too, has many in the region and beyond. We will work with them, individually or in formats of three or more, for a stable and peaceful region. But, our friendships are not alliances of containment.”
Commenting on the Indo-Pacific region, Menon was of the view that the speech given by Modi at the Shangri-La Dialogue was anything but out of the ordinary. While it was a stamp on the traditional Indian foreign policy, “It could have been a speech delivered by any PM.”
Saran was of the view that the architecture of the Indo-Pacific should be one that is open and inclusive.
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