Their goals make China and India obvious allies

Sino-Indian relations seem to be at a curious phase. True, efforts are being made to build bridges, but the statements made and actions taken are not wholly in consonance with deepening the relationship between two of the fastest-growing emerging market economies. It would make sense to do it; unfortunately, geopolitics has its own inscrutable dynamics.

No one could have put a simple proposition better than what Ma Zhanwu, China's consul-general in Kolkata, India, did last month. The points he made were telling, even if they were partly for public consumption. India and China, he said, should sign a free trade agreement, a treaty of friendly neighborliness and combine the Belt and Road Initiative and India's development thrust. This, Ma said, would enable both countries to become more influential through friendship, mutual trust and people-to-people relationship.

The points Ma raised could be taken up by more senior leaders during Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's visit to China from Saturday to Tuesday. She is expected to meet State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday, and scheduled to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization foreign ministers' meeting on Tuesday.