New Delhi
14 October 2009
The Chinese foreign ministry's statement opposing the Indian Prime Minister's
visit to Arunachal Pradesh was unnecessary, former foreign secretary Shivshankar
Menon said.
"[It was] completely gratuitous and unnecessary," he said here Wednesday at the launch
of a book, entitled "Chasing the Dragon: Will India catch up with China?".
Mr Menon, who has served as India's ambassador to China, said that the situation is
worrying because Sino-Indian relations are significant and sensitive at the same time.
The bilateral ties are marked by cooperation and by issues that divide the two countries,
but as China grows, its attitude and behaviour has not always been positive or
constructive.
Mr Menon suggested New Delhi to analyse the changes in China's attitude "coolly and
rationally", without breast beating or crying wolf.
We must devise a response to maximise our interests and this will be a major test of
our statecraft, he added.
Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said that one
need not chase China as India's economic goals and the means employed for achieving
those goals would be different.
"India," Mr Sibal said, "needs a unique model of development." he added that India
should grow economically at her own pace without worrying too much about how fast
China is growing.
Dr Rajiv Kumar, director and chief executive of the New Delhi-based ICRIER (Indian
Council for Research on International Economic Relations), said that the comparison was
unfair because China started its economic reforms much before than India.
However, Dr Kumar thought India could learn a lesson from the manner in which China
dared to find its own development model and had the courage to pursue it.
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