Reasons why PM Modi might attend the September military parade in China along with Vladimir Putin

Every September, China holds a military parade in Tian'anmen Square, Beijing, on September 3 to mark the anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. The event is marked by a grand show of its military prowess, and it is unlikely to be any different this time either.

While India has received an invitation to attend the event, along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, it is unclear whether Narendra Modi would attend the event. While Modi had declined such invitations earlier, including in 2015, things are different this year, considering the thaw in Delhi-Beijing relations and the current strain in India-US relations.

Though the Centre is yet to state anything about the visit, there is a general expectation that the Prime Minister could visit Beijing this time. Reason: India’s latest attempts at recalibrating its regional posture. There has been a high-level diplomatic engagement with China in recent days, a U-Turn from India’s earlier position that normalisation of ties between India and China depended on the restoration of the pre-2020 border status.

Donald Trump is another factor that has been pushing India to mend ties with China. His tariff stance could dramatically change trade equations in South Asia, Biswajit Dhar, an economics professor at the Council for Social Development in Delhi, told South China Morning Post. He said Trump’s statement that he would join hands with Pakistan to develop oil reserves in Pakistan has created a new dynamic.  “I think he has pushed India and China closer together,” Dhar said. Trump’s repeated claims that he brokered the ceasefire and his offer to mediate the Kashmir dispute – an issue where India has long maintained that no external party should intervene- have hurt India’s sensitivities.

“For India, the lesson is clear: countering China alone is not only unsustainable but increasingly risky in the face of an unpredictable and unreliable United States,” according to the think tank Lowy Institute.

And, Modi's attendance at the parade will be a major move in this regard. Vijay Prashad, director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, a network of research institutes in the Global South, told a Chinese media outlet that Modi should attend the parade in Beijing on September 3. “[China, India, and Russia] can hold a tripartite meeting and, by leveraging the power of Russia as an ally, effectively resolve the differences between China and India,” Prashad said, adding that the China-India border dispute is a “political issue” that was “solvable”.

 

 

India