Xi, Modi chart Sino-Indian course

President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both seen as reformist leaders with strong personalities, are expected to chart a course for Sino-Indian relations and contribute to the construction of an Asian order during a historic state visit to India by the Chinese president. [Special coverage]

Xi arrived in Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of Modi's home state of Gujarat, on Wednesday afternoon, and received a red-carpet welcome.

He was invited to a private dinner hosted by Modi on the banks of the Sabarmati river on the Indian leader's 64th birthday, before leaving for New Delhi later Wednesday.

Forging closer personal rapports with other leaders is a noticeable feature of Modi's diplomacy, said Qian Feng, a councilor of the Chinese Association for South Asian Studies.

"The choice of Modi's home state as Xi's first stop and the coincidence with his birthday were unprecedented in Indian diplomatic history," he said, noting that it will help narrow the deficit in mutual trust at both elite and grass-roots levels of the two countries.

Suspicions between the two Asian powerhouses have been a long-running problem, due to border disputes, the Dalai Lama and Tibet issues and China's close ties with Pakistan.

Almost three weeks ago, Modi visited Japan, where he gave Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a bear hug and bashed "expansionist" mindsets, prompting speculation whether Tokyo and New Delhi will forge an alliance to constrain Beijing.

Phunchok Stobdan, a senior fellow at the New Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), told the Global Times that strategic balancing is always done in modern politics.

"Modi's strategic checkmating holds greater validity, as China cannot risk others ganging up," Stobdan said. And instead of playing the Japan card with China, he said that India may be "playing China against Japan, if Japanese companies are not serious [about investing in India]."

On Thursday, Modi and Xi will hold talks at the historic Hyderabad House which would be followed by the inking of several agreements, reported the Indo-Asian News Service.

Liu Youfa, China's consul-general in Mumbai, earlier told the Times of India that China will invest $50 billion to overhaul India's railways and another $50 billion in other infrastructure such as ports and roads.

If confirmed, the amount will be nearly three times the investment committed by Japan during Modi's trip.

Ahead of his arrival in India, Xi said in a bylined article in The Hindu newspaper that, "The combination of the world's factory and the world's back office will produce the most competitive production base."

The current decade of India-China relationship will be heavily "Modi-Xi centric," Jagannath Panda, a research fellow and center coordinator for East Asia at the IDSA, told the Global Times. "Xi's India visit will prepare a 'political ground' for India-China relations for the next decade."

Given their strong reputations as reformers and pragmatists, both should take a nuanced approach toward problematic issues in India-China relations, said Panda, citing border disputes and maritime competition.

"Both India and China are stronger maritime powers today. There is a subtle competition between both countries for exploring new avenues and resources in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea," he said.

Earlier this week, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee inked a few deals during his state visit to Vietnam, including an oil exploration agreement for the South China Sea.

Chinese foreign ministry voiced concern over this deal, saying it will be unacceptable if the project involves China's territorial waters, according to the Hindustan Times.

China and India fought a brief war in 1962. Since then face-offs between border troops have been frequently reported, with the latest reportedly coming last week.

According to the Hindustan Times, more than 130 Indian and 230 Chinese troops were involved in a five-day standoff that began on September 10 over a road construction dispute.

According to Stobdan, though finding a quick solution is unrealistic, the possibility is emerging that both countries might be able to build a public consensus for a final resolution.

"It is no coincidence that the two popular leaders Modi and Xi enjoy unprecedented political legitimacy to express the aspirations of the majority in India and China," noted Stobdan.

Analysts believe the Xi-Modi centric decade for Sino-Indian ties may even have broader implications, as the two countries perceive themselves as prominent members of the developing world, and have similar stances on issues from international trade to climate change.

"Xi's visit will also witness a new mode of understanding and new channels of institutional mechanism taking place where India and China would like to cooperate on a range of security issues that are 'Asia centric,'" Panda told the Global Times.

"Can Modi and Xi break the ice to rebuild the Asian order? Perhaps it is difficult but not impossible if they start to build on the positives for a win-win relationship," said Stobdan.

"It depends how the two leaders will address issues in an innovative fashion that takes into account the power of geopolitical change in Asia," he said.