India still wary of military ties with China ahead of joint drills
Joint exercises may be resuming, but wariness means there is a long way to go if a healthy strategic partnership is to develop with China
Despite progress made during Defence Minister General Liang Guanglie's visit to India last week, analysts say Beijing and New Delhi have a long way to go if they want to build a healthy strategic partnership.
Military build-ups, border disputes and a desire by both nations to become a dominant force in Asia would continue to weigh on ties between the world's two most populous countries, even as their armed forces prepared to resume joint exercises, Sino-India experts said.
Both sides have in recent years bolstered their navies and improved infrastructure that could speed the flow of troops to the disputed Kashmir border region should there be a repeat of their 1962 border war.
But India is particularly wary of increasing forays into South Asia by a resurgent China. China's purchase of a port in Pakistan and efforts to build a space port and satellite-monitoring base in Sri Lanka are among developments that have given New Delhi pause.
Liang's decision to stop in Sri Lanka immediately before travelling to India last week only served to underscore concerns that some military motivations may be behind the projects.
"The Sri Lankan visit will be watched closely given the growing warmth and content of China-Sri Lanka relations," said Dr Rajeswari Rajagopalan, a defence analyst at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.