With the latest round of controversies surrounding Chinese attacks-both on
the physical border as well as in cyberspace-things in India could get difficult
for China. And we do not want that. Mainly for reasons of mutual benefit.
Both China and India are big and growing markets. The consumption of goods
and services right from basic foodstuff to hi-tech is huge and growing by the
day in both these countries. China already is a big trade partner exporting to
India, and similarly India is also enhancing its exports to China. Why should we
not when the whole world plans to survive and grow by selling to China?
Compared to many other countries, China offers products for the entire range
of rich and poor. Whether we like it or not, it was the proliferation of cheap
Chinese phones that helped Indian mobile market grow in leaps and bounds. There
are issues such as IMEI number missing from these phones but that is another
matter, and needs to be handled.
In the same stroke, I would also like to remind everybody that it was
primarily the Chinese telecom equipment makers who completely turned the rules
of the business around, thanks to the very aggressive pricing. Suddenly huge
deals were being announced and operators were rolling out big networks because
infrastructure costs had come down significantly. Talk to any telecom operator
and he will agree. Yes, there have been some quality and delivery issues, but
that needs to be addressed separately. World's top brands are manufacturing in
China, and world's top companies are using Chinese products.
Clearly, both India and China have been big gainers from all this. It is
therefore neither India's nor China's case that relations between these two
countries are not the best. The question is how do we get rid of these problems.
And if that is not possible, learn to live and grow with these problems.
I am not sure if business leaders of India and China can form joint lobby
groups and put pressure on their respective political leadership. The US has
been very effective in this front, and business leaders there work very closely
with the government in creating a conducive business environment between
nations. I think this must be tried out.
I am surprised that India, the country that claims to be a country of
millions of highly talented techies, cries like a baby, every time there is an
attack allegedly by China and Pakistan. If this is the name of the game then
what stops us from hitting back. If these things go along with diplomacy, so be
it.
Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh has gone out of the way to engage
Chinese leadership, and I am sure China appreciates the wisdom of Singh. As the
bigger and the more powerful of the two, it is now up to China to lead in the
confidence building.
Ibrahim Ahamad
ibrahima@cybermedia.co.in
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