New Delhi: Dealing with China would be a “challenge” for India during its G20 presidency and New Delhi would adopt a “cautious approach” towards Beijing, judging it by its deeds and not words, former deputy national security advisor Pankaj Saran said on Sunday.
In an interview with PTI, Saran also said India would expect that China recognises it as a rising power and deals with it on equal terms.
Asked about how India would perform the balancing act as G20 president with China as one of the prominent members of the grouping, Saran said, “This is going to be a challenge for Indian diplomacy and it is also going to be a challenge for China as to how it chooses to deal with India because it has no option but to deal with India as the G20 president.”
Not just at the summit level but there are several meetings as part of the Indian G20 presidency, he noted.
In each of the meetings, India is going to be in the chair, so China also has to take some tough decisions on how it wishes to approach and support or not support India’s presidency, Saran said.
“Obviously President (Xi Jinping) is going to be invited for the Summit and China will be invited for all the other meetings. You just have to hope that China understands and recognises that India is a rising economy, it is a rising power,” Saran said.
“China has to accept and deal with India on terms which are equal, which give respect to India, and it translates its words into deeds on how it respects India’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, adheres to the agreements on peace and tranquillity at the border and also respects India’s core national interests,” he said.
China has to do all that and also ensure that it restores the status quo which existed before April 2020, Saran said.
“I think the approach to China is going to be cautious, we will judge them by their deeds not by the words and this is an opportunity for China to prove that it genuinely desires to live in peace with India based on the established principles of international law,” Saran said.
India will assume the presidency of the powerful grouping from the current chair Indonesia on December 1.
PTI
Dealing with China will be a ‘challenge’ during India’s G20 presidency: ex-Dy NSA added by Press Trust of India on
View all posts by Press Trust of India →
