Annual Report 2007 - Observer Research Foundation

Today, there is a broad consensus in India
cutting across the political spectrum to
strengthen and develop friendly and
cooperative ties with China
years or less than 0.01% of total time of our interactions.”
As geographies become irrelevant in the face of technology and knowledge and as we move towards
a world that is flat and seamless, it is imperative to create such collaborative spaces that feed each other’s
strength and do not exploit the differences. This is possible to begin within Asia where we have
recently established an East Asia Summit to build an economy and strategic community of the Asian
people. Both India and China can also work together for the security and stability of Central Asia, a
region, which is resource rich but needs major developmental inputs to raise the levels of living of its
people. India has also welcomed China as an observer in SAARC. Both India and China can, therefore,
work together to redefine the economic and strategic priorities of Asia and provide the dynamism that
can positively influence the unfolding global events.
Today, the relationship with China, our largest neighbour, is one of the main priorities
of India’s foreign policy and there is a broad consensus in India cutting across
the political spectrum to strengthen and develop friendly and cooperative ties with
China. As we move along the way, I am certain we shall evolve new strategies for
creating stronger bonds. With the strength of our population and strong economic
fundamentals, there is a movement in both the countries to create a more equitable
society - a society that will deepen the process of economic reforms and embrace
more and more segments of its population in its road to prosperity. This, in turn,
will create new markets. Today, the world is looking at India and China as sourcing destinations. This
is set to change. In the next decade, the growth rates in the developed world will slow down and populations
start to gray. India and China will emerge as two of the world’s largest consumption markets.
Last year, Goldman Sachs came out with a much talked about report on Brazil, Russia, India and
China as the new emerging and powerful economies in times to come. In fact, studies on comparison
between India and China highlighting their respective strength and advantages have proliferated in
the recent years. Lately, Chinese writings are talking about the need for simultaneous rise of India
and China in order to assert in a truly Asian century.
In our quest for cooperative relationship with China, it might perhaps be apt to remember once
again Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s vision. In a letter written, to the Sino-Indian Society in 1934,
Tagore had recalled the visits of pilgrims in our ancient times and observed “What a great pilgrimage
was that. What a great time in history. It is our duty today to revive the historic spirit of that pilgrimage
following the ancient path which is not merely a geographical one, but the great historic path that
was built across difficult terrains of race differences and differences of language and tradition reaching
the spiritual home where man is one in bonds of love and cooperation”.
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Annual Report 2007 ◆ Observer Research Foundation
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