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India and China Marching Towards a New World Order
Sawraj Singh, MD FICS 		Email this page
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The Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's recent trip to India is an event of great historical significance. The two most populous countries together have one-third of the world's population. The two Asian giants are poised to forge the 21st century into Asia's century, restoring the rightful status of two-thirds of the population of the world that resides in Asia. Together with Russia, the two countries can help to restore the balance of power in the world that was created after the fall of the Soviet Union. This imbalance of power has led to more turmoil, instability, and terrorism. A new world order can help to bring peace, harmony, and prosperity to the vast majority of people of the world.
The two countries have contributed a lot to world civilization. India has been the seat of spiritual evolution. China has led in the development of many things that people all over the world are using, such as paper, the printing press, China dining ware, about 80% of the world's flowers, tea, ice cream, gun powder, fireworks, and kites. If someone asks you where something was invented and you do not know the answer, you can say China and you will always have more than 50% odds of being right. Still, China accepted Indian spirituality when it embraced Buddhism more than 2,000 years ago. One sign of improving relations between the two countries is the growing trade between them. A few years ago, the trade was about one billion dollars a year. This trade is expected to rise to about 20 billion dollars by the year 2008. China is destined to be India's largest trade partner. Last year the trade between the two was 13.6 billion dollars. Some people were concerned about China flooding India with its cheap products. Actually, India recorded a trade surplus of 1.75 billion dollars last year.

The border issue remains to be solved. India and China share about 2,500 miles of border. This border was never well demarcated because it passes through sparsely populated Himalayan mountains. Even the British had a difficult time defining the border and accepted the line of control as the border that remained undefined. The eleven-point plan to settle the border issue is an important step in solving this dispute. Principles of fairness, mutual respect, equality, and friendly consultations can help to reach an amicable settlement. After all, it was in New Delhi where the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, called "Panchsheel," were drawn during the visit of the first Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai. A new world order is on the horizon. India, China, and Russia are likely to form a strategic alliance that can restore the balance of power in the world. After the fall of the Soviet Union, there has been an imbalance of power in the world. This imbalance has led to turmoil, violence, and terrorism. Everybody is paying the price for the imbalance. One form of paying the price is at the gasoline pump, where prices are constantly rising.

In the emerging new world order, relations between countries and nations will be based upon the principles of tolerance, mutual respect, fairness, equality, and peaceful coexistence. This can mean peace, harmony, and prosperity for the vast majority of the people of the world. The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was right when he said, "India and China can reshape the world order." People all over the world are eagerly waiting for the dawn of the new world order. The Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s India visit will prove one significant step in the march toward this new world order.

Dr. Sawraj Singh is Chairman of Washington State Network For Human Rights; and Chairman of Central Washington Coalition For Social Justice

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