Mr. Vajpayee himself first went to China as External Affairs Minister in February 1979 and met with Deng Xiaoping himself. This Vajpayee visit was indeed a breakthrough in a number of areas although it was to be overshadowed by China's attack on Vietnam that led him to cut short his visit. Mr. Vajpayee would undoubtedly be accompanied by his Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra. There is some history here too. Mr. Mishra was the Indian Charge d' Affaires in Beijing when on May 1, 1970 Mao, perhaps in response to Indira Gandhi's earlier statement, turned to him at the podium of Tiananmen Square and said "India is a great country and the Indian people are a great people. Chinese and Indian people ought to live as friends, they cannot always quarrel".

Mr. Vajpayee's visit is taking place when bilateral trade is galloping. But this two-way trade amounting to about $ 5 billion last year is still more critical to India than it is to China. That asymmetry has to be changed. Indian business has developed a great deal of self-confidence vis-à-vis China. Corporate morale was low five years back but today the picture is completely different. Mr. Vajpayee will do well to take a strong business delegation with him. This would also give an impetus to the first-ever "Made in India" show that the Confederation of Engineering Industry is organising in October 2003 in Beijing. He would also do well the allay doubts that have arisen in the minds of the Chinese that the Indian government-not Indian companies-is suspicious of Chinese investments in India. We have debarred a leading Hong Kong-based company from bidding for a port project in Nhava Sheva on grounds of security. Chinese investments in states like Himachal Pradesh is discouraged. We are worried that a Hong Kong-based multinational is now the leading mobile telephone company in India. We have been very wary of the expansion plans of Chinese telecom major Huawei which already employs over 500 Indian engineers in Bangalore and also of the Chinese consumer goods giant Haier. There is also frustration in China on delays on the Indian side in granting visas. With proper papers, you can get a visa in Delhi to go to China in about three-four days while it can take two-three weeks to get an Indian visa in Beijing.

The Chinese would undoubtedly have taken note of Mr. Vajpayee's statement in Parliament on May 8th to the effect that while Pakistan's nuclear programme is India-centric, India's nuclear programme is based on threats from other countries in the region. There is nothing new in this formulation. But it is clearly time to do something about it. Our approach to nuclear issues has been global. While this is laudable, we must explore regional options as well. A trilateral confidence-building non-proliferation initiative involving India, China and Pakistan is in our interest. Such an initiative could well be kickstarted through a non-official Track II that has yielded such good results on the Indo-American front. There are other regional bodies like the 6-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that are of great interest to India. Energy linkages with the Tarim Basin Asia could usefully be explored in an Eurasian framework. The "Kunming Initiative" involving India, China, Bangladesh and Myanmar that envisages land connectivity, trade and mutual investments is particularly significant for our northeast.

Although the Indo-US economic relationship is not as dynamic and spectacular like the Sino-US economic relationship, Indo-US military ties have grown impressively in the last two years with many high-level exchanges of defence officers, joint army, air force and navy exercises, cooperation in training and procurement. The Chinese have watched warily. The challenge for us is to convey in as clear a fashion that deepening military collaboration with the USA is not directed against China in any way even if Washington sees the rise of Chinese power as one of its three most crucial strategic concerns, next only the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

Mr. Vajpayee will also be going to Beijing at an unusual moment of time when there is a parallelism or even coincidence of Chinese and American interests vis-à-vis the sub-continent. These include the promotion of an Indo-Pak dialogue, curbing proliferation of nuclear weapons, destroying terrorist networks and support for Pakistan's economic development as a modern, secular nation. This opens up new opportunities for us to try and manoeuvre an increased understanding of India's positions in relation to Pakistan with Chinese interlocutors. China's policy in the sub-continent has become more nuanced, nuclear and missile sales to Pakistan notwithstanding. China will not abandon Pakistan nor will the USA-indeed, a constructive US-China-Pakistan triangle could well be in our interest. That apart, our position on Pakistan would get a great boost in China if we are seen to be expediting movement leading to mutual agreement on the line of actual control along the Sino-Indian border. More imaginative use could be made of the existing 1993 and 1996 Agreements to arrive at a delineation of the line of actual control without prejudice to the positions of the two sides on the contentious boundary question.

A new economic China is manifest. But a new political China is also emerging. SARS will undoubtedly trigger a new culture of transparency and openness. Alas, most Indian are trapped in the old mindsets and are unable to see the profound implications of the transitions that have taken place across the Himalayas.