{"id":3046,"date":"2017-09-11T14:30:52","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T14:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mgu.ac.in\/?page_id=3046"},"modified":"2017-09-12T14:54:21","modified_gmt":"2017-09-12T14:54:21","slug":"colloquium","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mgu.ac.in\/colloquium\/","title":{"rendered":"COLLOQUIUM"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\u201cChina<\/strong><\/b>\u2019s Regional Engagement is not Conflictual<\/strong><\/b>,\u201d\u00a0 Says British Middle East expert<\/p>\n

While the West Asia\/Gulf region has become of critical importance to China\u2019s economic interests, its involvement in the region is not likely to be conflictual with the interests of other powers \u2013 whether Western or Asian \u2013 in the short- or medium-term, according to<\/p>\n

Prof. Tim Nimblock<\/strong><\/b><\/a>\u00a0,Emeritus Professor, Institute of Arab and Islamic studies University of Exeter, UK who is the honorary professor at the\u00a0KPS Menon Chair<\/strong><\/b><\/a>.\u00a0 Prof. Tim was delivering the keynote address at the Colloquium on \u201cEngaging beyond Borders: China and India in the Asian Regions\u201d organised by the K.P.S. Menon Chair for Diplomatic Studies, School of International Relations and Politics (SIRP), Mahatma Gandhi University.<\/p>\n

Prof. Tim said that the strengthened role of China in West Asia is closely linked to\u00a0 avoiding conflictual issues, emphasising political non-interference and non-involvement, using its diplomatic skill in maintaining friendly relations with all of the three major powers of the Gulf, projecting its policies as less self-interested than those pursued by Western powers, stressing mutual dependence as a basis for the Gulf-China relationship (and eschewing practices suggestive of a patron-client or dominant power relationship), and retaining a reasonable level of credibility (through avoiding commitments of doubtful practicality or feasibility). If\u00a0China\u00a0were to move to a more conflictual approach, whether towards regional states or to others active in the region, it would lose the substantial and substantive advantages which it has at present. For the foreseeable future, therefore, a more assertive strategic role is unlikely. Many of the positive aspects of\u00a0China\u2019s role in the Gulf are \u2013 or could be \u2013 shared with\u00a0India\u2019s present and prospective role in the region. In this respect\u00a0China\u2019s and\u00a0India\u2019s roles, despite no doubt being strongly competitive, need not be conflictual. Both states have a common interest in operating in a manner respectful of each other\u2019s interests. This is, also, in the interests of the\u00a0Gulf states\u00a0themselves, which have suffered from (and are still suffering the effects of) external powers pursuing conflictual objectives in the region. The most useful way for\u00a0Chinaand\u00a0India\u00a0to envisage their roles in the region relative to each other, therefore, is as competitors whose roles are nonetheless potentially complementary and thus beneficial to the\u00a0Gulf states, Prof Tim said. He concluded that\u00a0China\u00a0and\u00a0India\u00a0have both have a key interest in ensuring that they have secure access to Gulf oil, and in practice they can only attain this objective through a balanced framework which serves the interests of both \u2013 and of other powers also. The best way in which the two countries can enhance their own political roles, and bring about the \u201cbalanced framework\u201d outcome, is by using their diplomatic influence and soft power to resolve intra-Gulf rivalries. As indicated above, it is these regional conflicts which have frozen the current security framework in place. In the light of the factors conditioning their roles in the region(as outlined above), India and China may be in a better position than Western powers to pursue negotiated settlements and help the Gulf states fashion workable regional institutions.\u00a0India\u00a0and\u00a0China\u00a0will be no doubt be competing for regional influence and economic gain, but their long-term interests in the Gulf can be complementary.<\/p>\n

Speaking on\u00a0China\u2019s\u00a0South Asia\u00a0policy, R. Swaminathan, Chairman, International Institute for Strategic and Safety Management, \u201cSouth Asia\u00a0is strategically important both to\u00a0India\u00a0and\u00a0China\u00a0and both need a peaceful environment for their development. While they continue to court and help these countries, they can and should ensure that they cooperate whenever possible, compete where necessary and unavoidable, but do their best to avoid any conflict \u2013 engaging in awareness. Prof. V. Suryanarayan, Member, National Security Advisory Board & Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Asian Studies said that the policy option for\u00a0India\u00a0is not to embark on a policy of containment\u00a0China, must find the right mix of engaging, competing and safeguarding\u00a0India\u2019s national interests. Dr.Mathew Kurian presented a paper on \u201cIndia\u00a0and ASEAN.Earlier, Dr. Rajan Gurukkal, Vice Chancellor, inaugurated the colloquium. He also released the first issue of the\u00a0South Asian Journal of Diplomacy<\/em><\/strong><\/b>,<\/em>\u00a0published by the KPS Menon Chair. Dr. K.M.Seethi welcomed the audience. Dr. Raju Thadikkaran presided the function.<\/p>\n

Dr. Rajan Varghese, Pro Vice Chancellor delivered the concluding address and Dr.A.M.Thomas proposed a vote of thanks.<\/p>\n

Prof. Tim Niblock will deliver a special lecture on \u201cThe Political Economy of Saudi Arabia\u201d tomorrow at\u00a010 AM\u00a0at SIRP.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cChina\u2019s Regional Engagement is not Conflictual,\u201d\u00a0 Says British Middle East expert While the West Asia\/Gulf region has become of critical importance to China\u2019s economic interests, its involvement in the region is not likely to be conflictual with the interests of other powers \u2013 whether Western or Asian \u2013 in the short- or medium-term, according to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["page"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgu.ac.in\/api\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgu.ac.in\/api\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgu.ac.in\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgu.ac.in\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgu.ac.in\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3046"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgu.ac.in\/api\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3523,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgu.ac.in\/api\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3046\/revisions\/3523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgu.ac.in\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}