CENERS-K RTD 25 SEP 2019
Preamble
On 25 Sep 2019, two Chinese students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) proposed by Prof Kondapalli visited CENERS-K to interact with a small but elite group of China experts from the Eastern India for a two session seminar.
The students Prof Zhang Shulan from Shandong University and Mr Hou Wenle a PhD student at JNU possibly wanted to interact with Indian intelligentsia and gain feedback on their research subjects.
They were joined by very eminent Chinese experts from in and around Kolkata. The panelists were:
Prof H Vasudevan
Prof S K Mukherjee
Prof Harish Mehta
Prof Mrityunjoy Mohanty
The other participants were:
Maj Gen S N Mukherjee Exec Dir, CENERS-K
Brig Niladri Mukherjee Secy, CENERS-K
Col Vinayak Bhat (Retd)
Dr Satyaki Sen
The two sessions were chaired by Lt Gen J R Mukherjee, VP (ops) CENERS-K.
Lt Gen J R Mukherjee gave out an elaborate preamble introducing the panelists in detail which was crisp and short. He then handed over the session to Dr Harish Mehta.
Dr Harish Mehta
The Moderator for first session consisting of presentations by the panelists gave out the introductory comments.
His comments covered how China after it emancipation in 1949, how China went on to regroup the country into one entity.
He said Chinese people were very patriotic. The extra territorial privileges were sacrosanct for each and every Chinese citizen.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) created confusion about neighbouring countries to gain a territorial advantage.
China achieved prosperity with Marxicism & Leninism adopted with Chinese characteristics.
Mao Zedong tried and achieved territorial integrity, whereas Deng Xiaoping and Jiangzemin gave way to China’s opening up to rest of the world..
He discussed Xi Jinping thought prevalent today in Socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Zhang Shulan
The Shandong University Professor graduated from Beijing University with an illustrious career. She specialises in comparative studies of China and India in economic, trade and international thought.
The Chinese scholar covered a comparative study of trade and economy between India and China from 1978 to 2013.
The main events in Indian economy were presented as:
1962 border conflict
1977 restoration of bilateral relations
1978 open& reform in China
1991 economic reforms in India
200 China’s accession to WTO
2008 global financial crisis
2013 BRI
The lady spoke of investment and financial aspects of Indian economy. The comparative data showed an increased gap between China and India emerging from 1986 onwards.
The border trade was covered very skimpily. Emphasis was placed on border trade between Tibet and Sikkim very cleverly.
She covered the large gap between China and India, with China doing very well and India expected to do better.
However no measures were suggested to overcome the problems. All the data was pre 2013 which probably was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the study results.
Dr S K Mukherjee
The prominent China expert and professor from Bhawanipur Education Society College’s Department of Management preferred to put forth thought provoking ideas than to just give a presentation.
He spoke of building bridges between the people of China and India. He suggested certain out of the box topics that both countries can work on at local levels and at governmental levels.
A common Asian currency could be very strong and challenge any major currency in the world.
Indian Buddhism was exported to China which is a peaceful religion prevalent in many parts of China. The two countries could follow path of Buddhism to have a closer relationship.
China has excelled in sports field to win many laurels at Olympics. A cooperation in sports could play a great healer role to permit India to establish sports academies and win similar laurels at world level.
China has achieved great success in artificial intelligence and applied it effectively in production and supply chain management. India could learn a lot from Chinese counterparts in this field.
Both China and India could decide on a common trade block that would become stronger and overcome the unfair trade practices by the western world.
Mr Huo Wenle
The PhD researcher from Centre of East Asian Studies, SIS, JNU very conveniently shifted the focus of entire discussion from the South China Sea (SCS) to the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
He compared how China and India are apprehensive of each other in the IOR.
He claimed China was worried about:
Indian Ocean Control Strategy in the entire IOR.
India’s growing coop with major powers viz US, Japan.
India’s naval modernisation especially ASW & MDA.
Upgrading of Indian base in Andaman and Nicobar islands.
He stressed and reiterated that India need not worry about very minor activities of Chinese in the IOR. He perceived the Indian worries which are exaggerated as:
Chinese string of pearls strategy encompassing India from Southern side in IOR.
The bases in and around India in IOR which are merely civil related not military.
The Chinese influence on small neighbours like Maldives, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
PLAN ships moving in international waters for anti-piracy missions are not intended towards Indian state.
When confronted with. Facts about the. Militarily oriented bases and the number of ASW vessels of PLAN and IN during the Q&A, Huo Wenle immediately changed stance to comfort the Indian participants stating his research was about Chinese perceptions of Indians perceives as Chinese threat. And said that these obviously were exaggerated perceptions and not real strategic threats.
Prof H Vasudevan
Dr Mritunjoy Mohanty
Prof Mohanty from IIM, Kolkata suggested that center of global economy has shifted from the West to East where China & India are major players.
Both countries are truly magnets for global investments and must engage before it becomes a flash point.
He claimed that Indian production patterns and consumption patterns are not related whereas China is doing very well compared to India in terms of comparative patterns of production and consumption.
India has things left to do and must put its own house in order first before blaming China of unfair trade practices.
He suggested consultative mechanisms at local levels especially the North Eastern region and adopt cooperation to maximise peace.
He mooted the idea of Asian currency and trade zone that would become a counter against Dollar hegemony.
Free Wheeling Discussion
The entire discussion was overwhelmed by the forceful speech of the moderator Dr S K Mukherjee.
He said the total population of India and China form almost 37% of world population and would be a force to reckon with if together and cooperating in any field.
He emphasised on inclusive growth of both nations especially in economic terms on the global platform.
He said deficit leads to devaluation and China has been devaluating its currency off and on to keep up. Today nobody wants Chinese currency. He reiterated the advantages of a common Asian currency that could challenge the dollar.
Col Vinayak Bhat (Retd) suggested that confidence building measures should be adopted to alleviate the decades long animosity after the 1962 conflict.
Dr. apologised for his blunt comments which were significantly important to improve the Sino Indian relations.
He said that China’s imports consist of mainly minerals and raw material but sadly the exports are all value added goods made available at cheaper rates than Indian goods.
He suggested that China instead of importing raw material should set up industries in India to avoid transshipment costs and export finished goods directly from India.
Both Chinese scholars were subdued in their response quoting government policies of China.
The Vice President (Operations) Lt Gen J R Mukherjee had a few take home questions for Chinese academicians.
Why does China:
Construct BRI through POK which is Indian territory illegally occupied by Pakistan?
Assist Pakistan sponsored terrorists like Hafiz Sayeed in international forums?
Not support India at NSG?
Block India’s legitimate claim to a UNSC seat?