Jiang Zemin et Hu Jintao en Inde : une décennie de relations sino-indiennes 1996-2006)
Isabelle Saint-Mézard
During his November 20-23,2006 visit to India, President Hu Jintao undoubtedly meant to mark a new stage in the building of
Chinese-Indian relations, held up as decisive for the world order. By the
same token he complete a time cycle commenced ten years earlier by his
predecessor, Jiang Zemin, the first PRC head of state to have made an official visit to neighboring India. It is the evolution of the relations between
India and China that is analyzed in this article. A close look at the decade
that elapsed between the two presidents’ respective visits inspires three
rather provocative questions, or ones that in any event denote a certain
skepticism, as much as regards what has changed as what has remained the
same. Where does the border question stand today? For, despite efforts
made since 1996, the two neighbors remain basically incapable of settling a
territorial dispute that bears the stigma of the flare-up in 1962. What view
should be taken of the Economic Partnership in the first decade of the 21st
century, hailed as beneficial, whereas it causes a certain degree of friction?
And what is the meaning of China’s recent backdown as regards possible
civilian nuclear cooperation with India, which does nothing to resolve the
issue of military nuclear arsenals, nevertheless at the crux of the balance
between China and India?
• Que faire de la question frontalière ?
• Le partenariat économique est-il un bienfait ?
• Des partenaires en matière nucléaire ?