In an interview to discuss his latest book How China Sees India: The Authoritative Account of the India-China Relationship, Shyam Saran, one of India’s most highly regarded former foreign secretaries and an acknowledged expert on India-China relations, has said, “India is a retreating image in China’s rear-view mirror”, an evocative phrase which not only suggests that India is behind China but falling further and further behind.

In a 40-minute interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, Shyam Saran said, "China would like to see India slotted into a subordinate role in an Asia dominated by itself." This means China will do everything to thwart India’s rise and, citing the example of its opposition to India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Saran added, China is no longer worried about being the only voice opposing India.

The interview begins with Saran explaining how and why two countries that share a nearly 3,500 km border are so ignorant of each other. After that, he explains how China has traditionally (during the last two centuries) “looked upon India as a slave nation”. This is because China’s perception was conditioned by the British colonial presence in India as well as India’s role in the Opium Wars and opium trade.

Saran points out that what has compounded the ignorance of each other and the lack of understanding between the two countries is that they also, in the late 1940s, adopted very different political dispensations. As a result, what India felt right and proper as a democracy was viewed askance by China whilst there was little appreciation in India for China’s one-party political structure.

In particular, the former foreign secretary cited India’s decision in 1959 to give asylum to the Dalai Lama. India believed this was the right and proper thing for a democracy to do. China perceived it as not just offensive but also as a potential threat to China’s interests. More importantly, Saran adds, India never understood or made any real effort to view the Dalai Lama’s refuge in India through Chinese eyes.

Saran discusses how China’s perception of itself as the middle kingdom at the centre of the world, with its periphery countries deemed as less civilised, is, in fact, imaginary history. “There’s little in history to support the proposition that China was indeed the centre of the Asian universe, commanding deference among 'less civilised' states along its periphery,” he said.

However, prior to 1962, China was willing to see India in a different light. After 62 and the humiliation India suffered at China’s hands, India was included amongst the peripheral countries which should owe deference to Beijing.

Finally, right at the end of the book, Saran suggests that the direction India is moving under Modi is not the right one to meet the Chinese challenge: “The rise of narrow nationalism, the deliberate stoking of communal discord and the attempt to put a monochromatic frame over a diverse country with a multiplicity of languages, religions and cultural traditions, which we are witnessing today, devalue the very assets which make India distinctive and which will enable it to navigate a world in which borders are becoming less and less relevant … I believe that India has a better chance to meet the Chinese challenge by remaining committed to the values enshrined in its constitution.”

These are the highlights and important points discussed during the interview. There are many more fascinating insights for anyone who wants to understand the India-China relationship. Watch the full interview to understand the range of topics discussed.

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