If you are a regular reader of reports in the Indian media, you can be excused for thinking a war is imminent between India and China. For the past few months, the Indian media have been trying to fan passions on both sides.
"Fresh Chinese intrusion in Ladakh," declares a headline in The Statesman following earlier alleged reports that a Chinese military helicopter had entered India's airspace. "Wake up! China wants to break up India," screams a commentary in The Times of India.
Such reports and commentaries lack no drama, with one saying the two armies were "locked in sporadic exchanges of fire" in Sikkim, where the two countries share a high-altitude border. Some alarmists even predicted China "will attack India by 2012" to divert the attention of its people from "unprecedented" internal dissent, growing unemployment and financial problems.
A bleak picture of Sino-Indian relations - which is farthest from reality - is what a section of the Indian media wants to present to its readers. Instead of informing, inspiring and trying to find the truth, it is trying to throttle professional ethics to raise the war rhetoric and sow seeds of enmity between the two peoples.
To be honest, a section of the Chinese media has also been found lacking in ethics. Some reports have failed to reflect the Chinese government's thinking on Sino-Indian relations. This, and the response to an Indian media survey on "Do you think China is bullying India" suggest the jingoists have succeeded to some extent.
It indeed is puzzling that all this has been happening in the backdrop of flourishing Sino-Indian relations. Bilateral trade is growing at an unprecedented rate. It is set to cross $60 billion next year, which would be a 30-fold increase from 2000. The leaders of both countries have reiterated their resolve to keep the momentum in the development of friendly ties going. Although the border issue is yet to be resolved, both countries vowed to "make joint efforts to safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border areas until a fair and reasonable solution acceptable to both is found" during the recently concluded 13th round of Sino-Indian border talks.
Yet all the efforts to consolidate healthy relations have drawn little, if any, interest from the Indian media, which seem to be obsessed with negative news and giving truth a short shrift. This is ridiculing the freedom of the press, which the Indian media have long taken pride in.
China and India, with their increasing economic strength and interdependence, are standing on a door that can lead to a promising future for both. Any border conflict, let alone war, runs contrary to their interests and is beyond their wildest imagination. The media in both countries should make it their responsibility to prevent misunderstandings and maximize friendly exchanges between these two ancient and great civilizations.
(China Daily September 10, 2009)
