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INDIA AND CHINA PROFESS BROTHERHOOD

Sreeram Chaulia

Asia Times, October 3, 2009

On the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, multi-page color supplements in Indian dailies showcased its giant strides in industry, commerce and technology.

Fronted with a special message from the Chinese ambassador to India, these advertorial-like releases waxed eloquent about the rising volumes of bilateral trade and mutual investment, including quotes from Chinese honchos that they are committed to India's economic development.

The splash and splendor of the supplements, which included a preview of Expo 2010 in Shanghai and a mention of mushrooming Confucius Institutes, typified the enlarged Chinese efforts to Joshua Kurlantzick of the New Republic maintains that China's soft power "charm offensive" is "transforming the world". In India, though, the massive Chinese investment in public relations has not easily transformed the cagey news-consuming public.

From the older generation of Indians who can remember the calamity of the 1962 border war with China to a younger lot who wish that India could compete and surpass China in economic and military greatness, there are few takers of the publicity blitzes of the Chinese mission in India, which is known to befriend and shower lavish favors on selected media persons.

The 60th anniversary newspaper supplements proudly declare that the era of Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai (Indians and Chinese are brothers) "is deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples". But they make short shrift of the permanently intractable border dispute, now subject to the 13th round of bilateral talks, which is a legacy of the failure of that very era.

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