'China's charm diplomacy on India is paying off'

China's "charm diplomacy" on India is bearing fruit in terms of mutual cooperation, but it may not be enough to eliminate all suspicions in the backdrop of New Delhi's plans to launch long rage Agni-V missile, an article in an official daily in Beijing said.

In a commentary on the recent visit of President Hu Jintao to North Korea, India and Cambodia, the article published in the China Daily said his visits to New Delhi and Phnom Penh proved to be particularly fruitful.

The article titled "Charm diplomacy bears fruit" said, "during the fourth BRICS summit in New Delhi, Hu also clarified China's stance on various issues including global governance and sustainable development, put a premium on BRICS countries maintaining world peace and promoting common development and raised proposals for their development," it said.

"Undoubtedly, China and India share common interests in a variety of areas and despite their border dispute, the two countries can reach consensus and make concerted efforts to tackle key international and regional issues, such as the global financial crisis and climate change".

"The two countries have been maintaining close contact on various multinational occasions including the trilateral meeting between China, India and Russia, and the BRICS summit," it said.

Several bilateral cooperation frameworks and platforms have been set up since 2005 between the two countries helping to reach an agreement to build a strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity and a joint document outlining their shared vision for strengthening bilateral ties in the 21st century, it said.

"Despite this, China and India have remained suspicious of each other. Some Indian politicians and scholars accuse China of creating the so-called string of pearls to gain a foothold around the Indian Ocean and thus threaten India," it said.

"The string-of-pearls theory has become so popular in India that the Indian government even banned telecom operators from buying equipment manufactured by Chinese companies in 2010, citing security reasons," it said.

"In recent years India has also upset China by enhancing its strategic security cooperation with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, while the border dispute and the 'Tibetan government in exile' have been major obstacles in the way of better Sino-Indian ties," it added.

While Hu's visit to India was a gesture of goodwill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in return clarified that India has no intention and will not take part in any schemes to contain China, it said.

It also highlighted Singh's comments that India recognises Tibet as part of China and will not allow Tibetan separatists to conduct anti-China activities in India besides expressing hope to work with China to defend peace along the borders and settle the bilateral dispute through friendly negotiation.

"Nonetheless, such progress can be easily disrupted. sIndia is making the final preparations for the first test of the country's most ambitious strategic missile Agni-V, which will bring the whole of China under its strike envelope," it said.

"Such things should serve as constant reminders that charm diplomacy is probably not enough to ease and finally eliminate all suspicions and China should be ready to confront more complicated security challenges in the future," it said.

"India serves as a party of consequence defending stability in South Asia, and Cambodia on the Indo-China Peninsula. It is China's earnest hope to work with these countries to build a sound security environment," it said.