In an age of practicality, nations aren’t purchasing blessings

Recent events in Tibet and the ethnic Tibetan parts of Western China this past couple of weeks have lead to much press about the China-Dalai Lama conflict and the apparent struggle for control of the region. It’s a complicated issue, fraught with deceit, mystique, sadness and an apparent inability to see towards a solution. Perhaps, however, when a solution is already to hand, it is no longer necessary to search for it.

The question of Tibet goes way back, to the middle ages, and the Mongolians. A rejuvenated Altun Khan, a direct relative of Genghis and Kublai Khan, reuniting the Mongolian empire following the death of Genghis and a factional Mongol war amongst its territories, was reclaiming parts of its Empire lost.

Tibet, always at risk from invasion from Mongols at the time, had bought off an invasion and retained autonomy by agreeing to provide blessings and salutations to Mongolian kings (khans) over the preceding centuries. Accepting Buddhism as being the closest thing to Mongolia’s own shamanistic beliefs, the Mongolian Khans, who ruled much of China at this point, where all too happy to be officially ‘anointed’ by the spiritual leader of the religion, adding a divine acknowledgement of their right to rule.

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On Friday, Hindu’s, Muslims, Christians and Parsi’s all celebrate Spring. On this holy holiday, India will be celebrating four festivals at once - Chhoti Holi, Navroz, Good Friday and Eid-e-Milad.

A street vendor sells Holi colours

A festival of revelry and colourful mirth, Chhoti Holi is a build-up to the main festival - Holi that will be celebrated on Saturday. Holi is a very joyful occasion. By smearing colour on someone’s face, its believed you wipe out all feelings of hatred or misunderstanding.

Navroz, the first day of the Zoroastrian calendar, will be celebrated in a big way by the Iranis and Parsis.

Good Friday, a day for mourning, will be observed by the Christians to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This will be followed by the Easter celebrations on Sunday.

Eid-e-Milad, observed by the Muslims, is the birth as well as the death anniversary of Prophet Mohammad.

While Holi and Navroz are occasions to celebrate, Good Friday and Eid-e-Milad are not joyous occasions. Nonetheless, as in all Indian festivals, sweets, special foods and family gatherings will dominate the day.

FINALLY!! there’s relief for frequent flyers between Mumbai and Shanghai! No longer will passengers have to wait at unearthly hours at airports during stop overs, or suffer 12 hour journeys, for an otherwise 7 hour flight. After two days of negotiations in New Delhi, Jet announced it would start flying the Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco route from May 4th. Insiders also say there is a strong possibility Jet will soon start flying Mumbai-Beijing as well. Air India, which currently only flies to Shanghai is also expected to start flying to Beijing and Guang Zhou soon. India currently operates four flights to Chinese cities. China operates 18 flights to India.  

On Thursday, negotiations between Indian and Chinese aviation authorities concluded that airlines of both sides can fly on to a maximum of two cities each in three regions. While India asked for Canada-US; Australia-New Zealand and Asia. China has asked for — Africa, Middle-East (including Gulf) and Europe — as the three regions for its carriers.

A month ago 2point6billion.com, had reported that the deal would be signed, sealed and stamped in Jet’s favour in a month (http://www.2point6billion.com/2008/02/18/jet-setgo/)

The much awaited direct flights are expected to boost economy and cultural ties between the two silk route nations. Trade between India and China has only ballooned from the begining of this century. During the year 2000-01, the bilateral trade volume was barely US $ 2 billion. This increased to US $ 11.3 billion in 2004-05, current bilateral trade stands at an excess of US $ 15 billion. Since 1997-98, Indo-China trade has registered a growth of 260% i.e., average yearly growth of around 33%.

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Numbers: (9,2)

At a time when everybody’s tilting their champagne glasses, toasting the rise of the Asian century, its sometimes time to get a reality check too. We all say, think & feel that India and China have more to gain by working together, yet security concerns keep the two countries from co-operating in trade.

Sify, recently announced that New Delhi is dragging their feet on granting permission to Liaohe Petroleum Exploration Bureau (LPEB), a Chinese seismic survey firm of the country’s hydrocarbons exploration and production giant CNPC, who wants to open offices in Kolkata and Chennai.

“Most of the state-owned Chinese companies have links with China’s intelligence services. We cannot jeopardise our country’s strategic and security interests,” a senior official in the home ministry told sify on the condition of anonymity.

“Since Chinese companies are now bidding for port projects in our neighbourhood, there is a chance that Liaohe Petroleum could misuse its office and give crucial oceanographic data of Indian waters to their navy,” the official added.

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Numbers: (32,3.2)

The third ministerial meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) hosted by India commenced on March 3, 2008 in New Delhi. Although SAARC - The South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation, comprising India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan and Pakistan, hasn’t had the desired impact that NAFTA (North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement) has made, changes are clearly in the pipeline.

Business Line spoke to the Minister of State for Commerce, Jairam Ramesh, on a range of issues that have hobbled this grouping from achieving tangible gains. Ramesh had visited Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and is due to visit Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Afghanistan before end-June 2008.

“India’s globalisation is incomplete without closer engagement in South Asia. India cannot do bypass surgery on South Asia-this notion in India that we can be a global player and couple our economy with the American economy bypassing our own neighbours - we can’t couple with America and decouple from South Asia - is not possible. We need to understand that the foundation of our globalisation rests on closer regional cooperation in goods, services and, most importantly, in investments,” Ramesh said.

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China - India investment questions and comparisons to be raised

Mar. 18 - The Senior Partner of Dezan Shira & Associates, Chris Devonshire-Ellis, who publishes China Briefing, India Briefing and the emerging Asia website 2point6billion.com, will meet next week with Kamal Nath, the Indian Minister of Commerce, and Mr. P. Chidambaram, the Minister of Finance, in New Delhi.

This pre-empts his annual meetings with Chinese government leaders which are scheduled for this May. Last year’s summary of meetings with China’s officials can be accessed here.

Chris will be reporting on issues arising from these talks on 2point6billion.com next week, please subscribe to that site (complimentary) if you require copies of these.

He has also kindly offered to raise important questions on China-India trade or investment directly with Mr. Nath and Mr. Chidambaram on behalf of our subscribers and readers. If you have questions you would like him to pose to the ministers please email him directly at ministerialmeetings@dezshira.com. Replies will be confidential.

If you were planning on climbing Mt Everest this summer, make alternative plans. In a bid to allow the Olympic torch to safely scale the summit of the world’s highest peak, both approach routes, to the Mt Everest peak - from the Nepal side and the Tibetian side will be off limits.

Nepal’s tourism minister, Prithvi Subba Gurung, told the New York Times in a telephone interview on Thursday that the Chinese government had appealed to his administration to help prevent disruptions to the Olympic torch ceremony. “Expedition teams will not be allowed to ascend Mount Everest from the base camp” on the Nepal side, he said.

Nepal’s decision underscores its vulnerability to pressure from its large and powerful neighbor to the north, even if it involves forsaking lucrative earnings from expedition permits. The tourism industry is among Nepal’s most important revenue streams, and the tourism ministry says permits to scale Everest put $4 million into government coffers last year, a significant amount for one of Asia’s poorest countries.

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India and China may be the flavour of the world markets, but when it comes to performance of their stock exchange indices in 2008, they are doing the worst in Asia. While the Bombay Stock Exchange’s National Index (popularly known as BSE 100 Index) dipped by 16.08% during the first two months of 2008, the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Shanghai A Index slipped as much as 17.36% during the same period.

A comparison of major market indices in Asia by Thomson Financial reveals that none of the indices posted positive returns during the said period. The best performing index during the period was Jakarta Se Composite, which declined by less than 4% during the said period. Click on chart to enlarge.

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