ISAS Insights

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's recent state visit to India, 19-22 May 2013, was neither a classical charm offensive in diplomacy nor a post-modern crisis-busting political journey. What he did achieve was to place the political and economic "concerns" of space-faring China and India at the centre-stage of their discussions. This has raised the possibility of a 'new model' of Sino-Indian dialogue, driven by a sense of optimism after their recent military standoff eased. At another level, though, there is still a lot of circumspection, if not also scepticism. India, for its part, must begin addressing its asymmetric equation with China across the entire spectrum.