[By Zhai Haijun/China.org.cn]

The China/India relationship is not really about establishing territorial rights. The priority is the establishment of a firm and mutually beneficial economic relationship, not just bilateral but pan-regional, which should render such issues less important. And thus the real issue when Chinese and Indian diplomats talk is trans-regional cooperation, to which both countries have declared a strategic commitment.

China needs to have India fully on board for the grand strategic project of the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (known as the "Belt and Road" initiatives). This scheme could involve anything up to 60 countries in Asia, Europe and Africa, and most of them are signed up to it already. The idea is to create a multi-functional infrastructure to encourage trade and cultural exchanges, replicating the historical links of Asia to the western and southern cultural spheres.

This fits in very well with current Indian government projects, such as the Spice Route program examining the background to the ancient spice-trading routes to and from the southern Indian state of Kerala, and the Mausam project, aimed at establishing the influence of weather patterns – in particular the heavy monsoon rains which every year render most activity impossible – on trading patterns around the Indian Ocean. The emphasis of the Indian projects is historical and cultural, but there is no reason why their findings should not integrate with the more here-and-now-orientated Maritime Silk Road scheme.

China's infrastructural strategy will take a long time to work out and even longer to implement, but it is encouraging that work is proceeding at an impressive speed and with impressive attention to detail.

The writer is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/timcollard.htm

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