Manoj Kewalramani speaks at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, Tamil Nadu
Manoj Kewalramani delivered a talk on Areas of Sino-India Convergence and Cooperation at the 2019 China Seminar held at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington on September 6, 2019.
In his presentation, Manoj discussed the emerging trends in the India-China relationship following the April 2018 informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping.
The key observations of the presentation are as follows:
- Wuhan marked the beginning of a new phase in the India-China relationship, with the understanding that drove the relationship since 1988 being under stress.
- Three defining features of this phase are a deepening power asymmetry between the two countries, each’s expanding interests and capacities to pursue them and the fundamental changes that are underway in the international order.
- Amidst this, while old sources of friction, such as the boundary dispute persist, there are now certain new avenues for competition, such as BRI, and cooperation, such as global governance reform.
- Competition is a product of historical distrust, expanding interests, and divergences over fundamental values. On the other hand, cooperation is likely to be transactional, driven by pragmatic self-interest.
- The broader question the presentation sought to address was: Is a stronger, more influential India in China’s interest? The answer it proposed was yes from a narrow economic and near-term geopolitical perspective. But no from a long-term strategic interests point of view.
The presentation is given below.
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