India seeks China's support

Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting New Delhi on Wednesday, September 17. The two Asian countries have different political systems, and the economic and militaristic gulf between them is huge. Despite the fact that the Sino-Indian border dispute remains unresolved, the leaders of the two countries are still looking for increased bilateral cooperation.

But this hasn't always been the case. After war broke out between the two neighbors in 1962 over a border dispute, it took a quarter of a century for tensions to ease. But ties remained strained to the extent that in 1998, a few days before India carried out three nuclear tests, then Indian Minister of Defense George Fernandes said: "China, not Pakistan, is the biggest threat to India."

Economic cooperation

However, China's economic rise over the past years has helped the country become India's biggest trading partner - with a trade surplus clearly favoring Beijing - and both sides are interested in boosting bilateral economic ties.

At the moment, New Delhi needs investment in its infrastructure - PM Narendra Modi has already made the modernization of the Indian railway system his priority - and hopes the Chinese will help build the country's first high-speed rail connecting major Indian cities. Beijing is also viewed as a potential financier of two industrial parks in the Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, which would improve opportunities for Indian exports and jobs.

The 'Japan card'

During Modi's recent five-day visit to Japan, PM Shinzo Abe pledged to invest 35 billion USD in India over the next five years, including the introduction of bullet trains. Does Modi believe that by moving closer to Japan - a country that has territorial disputes with China in the East China Sea - he will be able get concessions from Beijing? "India has no 'Japan card' against China," Sujit Dutta, China expert at the New Delhi-based Nelson Mandela Centre For Peace and Conflict Resolution, told DW.

"Modi's administration is very clear that the relationship with Japan is crucial since Tokyo is a leader in technology and India is keen to expand its relationship with Japan in this area," the analyst explains. Dutta also says that India's ties with Japan and China have different dynamics and that the one will not be forged at the cost of the other.

According to Zhao Gancheng, analyst at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS), it is "hardly imaginable" that Modi will allow himself to be led by Japan against China. Zhao acknowledges that the relationship between Tokyo and Beijing "is as bad as it has been for a very long time," adding that it is "understandable" that Abe wants to "interfere and provoke China." But PM Abe will not be successful, he argues, because "India has its own interests and its own goals," Zhao told DW.

Chinese investments not guaranteed

India and China are both pursuing similar goals of economic development. "Modi had already been considered a great friend of China's when he was chief minister of the state of Gurajat. During this time, Modi visited Beijing a number of times and Chinese companies invested in Gujarat, which resulted in an economic boom in the state," Christian Wagner, a South Asia expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), told DW. "China is very much interested in increasing its investments in India and Modi also wants to explore that option," he says.

At the same, there is resistance in India against increased cooperation with Beijing, says Wagner: "China has been seeking to invest massively in India's infrastructure for many years – not only in railways, but also in ports and telecommunications. Chinese investors want to go into India, but these issues are regarded as key to the security of the nation which is why these projects are met with serious reservations in India and also in Modi's own party, the BJP."

Unresolved border dispute

That's where the unresolved border dispute comes into play: New Delhi claims Aksai Chin, an area controlled by China, whereas Beijing lays claims to large parts of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

"The border conflict has been a test for bilateral relations," says Wagner. "Progress on the economic front, however, should enable both parties to set the dispute aside, but the issue may also be used to stir up tensions between the two countries," he adds.