China-India military relations improve markedly

中印两军关系再出发

Source
China Military Online
Editor
Yao Jianing
Time
2018-10-15 23:03:19

By Zhao Xiaozhuo and Wang Yu

赵小卓 王 雨

The China-India military relationship, often referred to as the "wind vane" of China-India relations, is the most sensitive part of the two countries' bilateral ties. Border disputes such as "tent confrontation" and "Donglang event" have all plagued the development of bilateral relations. Since this year, the relationship between the two militaries has improved markedly with the rapid recovery of China-India relations. If the dragon and the elephant dance together, the two sides benefit.

中印两军关系是两国关系最敏感的部分,常被称为中印关系的“风向标”,边界纠纷、“帐篷对峙”“洞朗事件”等都曾困扰两国关系的发展。今年以来,随着中印关系快速回暖,两军关系明显改善,“龙象共舞”风生水起。

On April 27th and 28th, Chinese President Xi Jinping held an informal meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi in the central China’s city of Wuhan. In early June, Modi visited China again and attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2018 in Qingdao, a coastal city in east China's Shandong Province.

4月27日和28日,习主席在武汉同印度总理莫迪举行非正式会晤。6月初,莫迪再度访华,在青岛出席上海合作组织峰会。

The leaders of the two countries have conducted strategic exchanges on the major changes in the world today, and have exchanged in-depth views on the overall, long-term and strategic issues concerning the future development of China-India relations, which have played a strategic leading role in the development of relations between the two countries and their militaries. Friendly relations and win-win cooperation have become the mainstream of the relations between the two countries and their militaries.

两国领导人围绕当今世界百年未有之大变局进行战略沟通,就中印关系未来发展的全局性、长期性、战略性问题深入交换意见,对两国两军关系发展起到了战略引领作用,友好相处、合作共赢成为两国两军关系的主流。

From August 21st to 24th, Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe paid an official goodwill visit to India. During the visit, the important consensus reached by Chinese President Xi and Indian Prime Minister Modi were implemented. Both sides have deepened exchanges and cooperation in their military security fields, enhanced mutual strategic trust between the two militaries, marking the shadow of "Donglang event" cast over China-India military relations being discarded, and "mutual understanding" having become the basis for their military relations.

8月21日至24日,国务委员兼国防部长魏凤和对印度进行正式友好访问。此访落实习主席与莫迪总理达成的重要共识,深化双方军事安全领域交流合作,增进两军战略互信,标志着中印两军关系走出“洞朗事件”阴影,“相互体谅”正成为两军关系的基础。

China and India are connected by common mountains and rivers, and the friendly exchanges between the two countries can date back to ancient times. The two oriental ancient civilizations have created amazingly glorious histories. India was one of the first countries to recognize the new China and to propose restoring China's legitimate seat in the United Nations (UN). China, India and Myanmar jointly advocated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and achieved a pioneering work in the history of international relations.

中国和印度山水相连,友好交往源远流长。两个东方文明古国曾创造令人惊叹的辉煌历史。印度是最早承认新中国的国家之一,也是首先提出恢复中国在联合国合法席位的国家之一。中国、印度、缅甸共同倡导和平共处五项原则,成就了国际关系史上的一个创举。

At present, both China and India are at an important node of development: the socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and India has also set a goal of creating a "New India". China and India face similar tasks and have the common aspiration to strengthen bilateral cooperation. It is of great significance for the two countries and their militaries to strengthen strategic communication and build closer partnerships.

当前,中印都处于发展的重要节点,中国特色社会主义进入新时代,印度也提出了建设“新印度”的目标。中印面临相似的任务,也有加强双边合作的共同愿望,两国两军加强战略沟通、建立更加紧密的伙伴关系意义深远。

The foundation for a stable and sustainable development of China-India relations lies in mutual trust. The two countries should adhere to a positive, open and inclusive attitude, stick to the basic judgments of being each other's development opportunities but not threats, and promptly negotiate on major issues of mutual concern.

中印关系要稳定、要发展,基础是互信。两国应本着积极、开放、包容的心态,坚持双方互为发展机遇、互不构成威胁的基本判断,及时就双方关心的重大问题进行协商。

The two militaries have established an exchange visit mechanism for defense ministers, set up a secret hotline between the defense ministries for direct connection, strengthened communication between the defense departments and various levels of both militaries, and signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) on exchanges and cooperation in China-India defense affairs according to the development of the situation, all of which are favorable measures to further deepening mutual trust.

两军建立国防部长互访机制,设立国防部直通保密电话,加强防务部门与军队各层级交流,根据形势发展商签中印防务领域交流与合作新版谅解备忘录等,都是能够进一步深化双方互信的有益举措。

To promote the development of China-India military relations under the new situation, it is necessary to follow the historical trend and take a long-term perspective, rather than only focus on differences but neglect cooperation, or even disturb the development process of the two countries and the overall situation of bilateral relations.

新形势下推进中印军事关系发展,需要顺应历史潮流,登高望远,从长计议,不能只把眼睛盯在分歧上而忽略了合作,更不能让两国发展进程和两国关系大局受到干扰。

The two militaries should further give full play to the role of the defense and security consultation mechanism and the meeting mechanism of the Ministry of National Defense Working Group, deepen the professional exchanges of the military services, continue to carry out joint training such as the "Hand in Hand" joint anti-terrorism training between the Chinese and Indian armies, strengthen exchanges and cooperation between ships, increase exchanges of young military officers, promote university, academic and public affairs exchanges, expand new areas of cooperation, and strengthen cooperation in multilateral frameworks such as the SCO.

两军应进一步发挥防务与安全磋商机制和国防部工作组会晤机制的作用,深化军种专业交流,继续开展“携手”陆军联演等联演联训,加强舰艇互访等交流合作,加大青年军官互访力度,促进院校交流、学术交流、公共事务交流,拓展新的合作领域,加强在上合组织等多边框架中的合作等。

Only by continuously deepening pragmatic cooperation in various fields can both sides deepen friendship and enhance strategic mutual trust, thus laying a solid foundation for the healthy and sustained development of the two countries' military relations.

只有不断深化各领域务实合作,才能加深友谊、增进战略互信,从而为两军关系健康持续稳定发展打下坚实基础。

Due to differences in history, culture, and society, China-India relations will inevitably encounter some waves. The biggest problem is the pending border issue between the two countries.

由于历史、文化、社会等差异,中印关系难免出现一些波澜,最大的困扰就是两国边界问题悬而未决。

However, with the joint efforts of the two countries and their militaries, the two sides successively signed the Agreement on the Maintenance Peace and Tranquility along the of Line of Actual Control in the China-India Border Areas, the Agreement on Confidence-Building Measures in the Military Field along the Line of Actual Control in the China-India Border Areas and the Border Defense Cooperation Agreement, insisting on controlling differences through dialogue and properly handling border issues.

但在两国两军的共同努力下,双方先后签署了《关于在中印边境实际控制线地区保持和平与安宁的协定》《关于在中印边境实际控制线地区军事领域建立信任措施的协定》《边防合作协议》等,坚持通过对话管控分歧,妥善处理好边界问题。

Looking forward to the future, the two sides should promote the establishment of a regular border meeting mechanism for the generals, open the border defense hotline of the adjacent military regions, carry out personnel exchanges between the adjacent theater commands and the corresponding services at all levels, strengthen exchanges between the front-line units, carry out exchange and training for border guards in the other's colleges and universities, and resolutely put an end to similar incidents as "Donglang event".

展望未来,双方应推动建立将军级定期边境会晤机制,开通相邻军区边防热线,开展相邻战区(军区)和对应军种各层次人员往来,加强一线部队之间交流,开展边防人员在对方院校的交流与培训,坚决杜绝类似“洞朗事件”再次发生。

History shows that as long as China and India adhere to the principle of treating each other with sincerity, mutual respect and taking care of each other's concerns, strive to develop their cooperative willingness into a policy level, extend the consensus of both sides to an action level, and pass the upper-level decision to the front-line forces, as well as properly control their differences, the two militaries can promote the win-win cooperation, making their military relations serving as a positive factor for their stable bilateral ties.

历史证明,只要中印两国坚持以诚相待、相互尊重并照顾彼此关切,努力将合作意愿向政策层面发展、双方共识向行动层面延伸、上层决策向一线部队传导,妥善管控分歧,就能推动两军合作共赢,使两军关系成为两国关系的稳定因素。

Disclaimer: The authors are Zhao Xiaozhuo and Wang Yu respectively from the War Studies College of the Chinese PLA Academy of Military Sciences, and the Joint Service Academy of the Chinese PLA National Defense University. The article was published on the PLA Daily on Oct. 15. It is translated from Chinese into English and edited by China Military online.

声明:本文作者为军事科学院战争研究院赵小卓、国防大学联合勤务学院王雨。本文由《解放军报》10月15日发表,由中国军网进行编译。

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