Why it's significant that China and India declare they are not rivals but partners.

Synopsis: Every second Friday of the month, The Straits Times’ senior columnist Ravi Velloor distils 40 years of experience covering the Asian continent, with expert guests.

In this episode, Ravi speaks with Dr Henry Huiyao Wang, co-founder and head of the Centre for China and Globalisation, a non-government think tank in Beijing, about the Chinese view on recent developments in Sino-Indian ties, and the summit in early August between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Dr Wang says perceptions that India may be dragged by fellow Quad nations into diluting its non-aligned instincts, and the lack of exchanges during the prolonged Covid-19 shutdowns, contributed to a chill in ties.

The Xi-Modi summit in Tianjin revives hope of vastly improved ties, and China’s close ties with Pakistan, and improving ties with India, could contribute to peace on the sub-continent, he adds.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:05 What went so wrong when things seemed to be going right

4:00 The ‘Quad’ factor in ties 

10:05 India is nobody’s quisling

13:15 China’s reasons to mend fences

14:45 The Russia factor

16:30 Belts and Roads

19:30 How China views recent US-India troubles

Host: Ravi Velloor (velloor@sph.com.sg)

Read Ravi's columns: https://str.sg/3xRP

Follow Ravi on X: https://twitter.com/RaviVelloor

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Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Ernest Luis

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