00:00Ma'am, for a moment, I want to focus on these images that are coming in.
00:04The Prime Minister and the Chinese President Xi Jinping
00:07spent some time at this iconic backdrop of the pillars
00:12at the Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameshwaram.
00:18You know, is that perhaps an effort to tell the Chinese about the historic ties?
00:23Because there is conversation around this a little longer than with the others.
00:29Well, it's certainly, you recall Xi Jinping's visit to India.
00:35It began in Mahabalipuram with the backdrop of the ancient architecture.
00:42So it's signaling that India too is an ancient civilization
00:46with its own history and culture, which is very rich.
00:51But as I said, it's also looking at future links through the oceans.
01:01Yes, you know, you referred specifically to the Chennai-Vladivostok link.
01:05We've been talking about India seeking to invest or tie up more with Russia
01:10on the Arctic, you know, seafaring route in times to come.
01:15Shipbuilding is one area where India is really trying to focus on very extensively.
01:20Now, when you look at the BRICS architecture,
01:23is that an apprehension only in India or among other members that you cannot,
01:29while everyone's saying you cannot let America dominate the world order,
01:34at the same time, nobody would want China to dominate
01:37or to be the replacement power either.
01:40So are there effective countermeasures being put in place
01:43to ensure America is not replaced by China
01:46and same pressures work on the world?
01:48You know, like, let's say, if you look at the trade settlement issue,
01:56see, BRICS countries at the moment prefer trade in local currencies,
02:01settlement in local currencies, rather than looking at a common currency,
02:07because the strongest currency would be the yuan.
02:10And actually domination by one currency, you know, replacing the dollar with the yuan,
02:18may not be something that, you know, many countries are comfortable with.
02:24Certainly India is not, because we want this to be a more, you know, leveled structure
02:31where you don't have a pinnacle of authority and then, you know, the rest.
02:39So I think it's important, as I said, for India to do this delicate balancing act.
02:46And we're the only ones who can actually do it at this point of time.
02:50But of course, India, Russia, China, they're being seen as an alternate power structure.
02:58How would you respond to the criticism that India coming too close to Russia and China
03:03would, you know, alienate us?
03:06Or as some analysts seem to argue, America will not be too happy about it.
03:11Well, you know, I think for India, it's important to preserve its strategic autonomy.
03:18And the U.S. has been exerting unpredictable and sometimes irrational pressure on India.
03:26So I think for India, it's important to preserve space for its own national goals,
03:36whether it is energy security, which at the moment, you know, because of the conflict in the Gulf,
03:44has been badly impacted.
03:47So we have to import quite a lot from Russia.
03:50And the Russians have, in fact, shown a willingness to expand exports to India.
03:57So it's coming at a very critical time for India.
04:02Ambassador, if I may, for a moment, while everyone's also talking about BRICS and BRICS outcomes,
04:07there's a lot of conversation around the story of the day, as some put it,
04:12is, you know, the conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chinese President Xi Jinping
04:19in about two hours and 30 minutes from now, a reset of sorts,
04:23the fact that he's flown in for the BRICS summit,
04:25is it only because he expects India also to come and join BRICS summit in China?
04:31Or do you see a genuine effort to reset ties?
04:36I think both countries have been making an effort to reset ties,
04:42despite the constraints, because we don't know if the Chinese position on the border has shifted.
04:50In fact, recently, there was some account of border skirmishes in Arunachal.
04:56Taxing Arunachal.
04:57So the border remains unresolved.
05:02On the trade side, China has a huge surplus with India.
05:08And India's dependency on Chinese inputs in many critical sectors has grown,
05:15whereas Chinese imports from India are very, very low.
05:20So I think these, then I think China has put a block on sharing technology with India
05:27in critical sectors, including most recently battery technology for electric vehicles.
05:34So I think that these are all issues which should be on the table when the two leaders meet.
05:43But the countries are trying to progress the relationship step by step.
05:50But are these multiple false starts?
05:53You know, I don't even want to go back to the Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai era in 62.
05:58If we were to talk about only the Narendra Modi government in the past 12 years,
06:022014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to India to Ahmedabad.
06:07There was tension at the borders.
06:09Then the 73-day Dolom standoff.
06:12Then the Wuhan summit, the informal dialogue.
06:16Then again, tensions at the borders.
06:18Then Mamalapuram 2019, Galwan 2020.
06:21And that tension remained high till Kazan 2024.
06:25And then Tianjin and now here.
06:28So multiple times we see the relationship go up, come down, go up, come down.
06:32Will this time be any different?
06:34Well, I think the relationship will stabilize much more if both sides are able to really, you know, have substantive
06:48movement on the border.
06:50Because as the border, till the border remains undefined, with conflicting claims from both sides,
06:58the possibility of border tensions remains.
07:03So there is a kind of expectation that there may be some direction by the leaders to continue the process
07:18or accelerate it.
07:19Let's see.
07:20Because the process of, you know, trying to restore some stability on the border after the Galwan tensions started when
07:34President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi had met.
07:40At Kazan.
07:41Yes.
07:43And post-Kazan, then Tianjin and now New Delhi, the fact that he's come to New Delhi, this conversation,
07:49and we'll be keeping an eye on what happens at 5.30 and subsequently the delegation that he's got along
07:54with him.
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