India and China's Rapprochement Extends Only Skin Deep

MIN READApr 27, 2018 | 04:34 GMT

Because of other pressing priorities, India and China are backing off confrontation with each other, for now.

(KENT WEAKLEY/Shutterstock)

"The Chinese dragon and Indian elephant must not fight each other but dance with each other." The words -- uttered last month by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi -- point to an attempt by the world's two most populous countries to reduce their high tensions in the Himalayas less than a year after they nearly came to blows in the Doklam standoff. Amid the prospects of a "reset" in ties, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay Chinese President Xi Jinping an informal, two-day visit starting April 27 in Wuhan. During the meeting, which marks the latest in a series of high-level exchanges between Indian and Chinese officials, the leaders aim to lay the groundwork for a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit scheduled for June in Qingdao. From a broader perspective, however, the irreconcilable differences in the strategic objectives of the nuclear rivals suggest that their emerging bonhomie won't mask...