Expectations of Sino-Indian ties must be rational

Editor's note: China should not care too much about whether India takes part in Belt and Road projects as long as it treats China as a partner, comments Mao Keji, an observer of South Asia, in an article for Guancha.cn. Excerpts:

China has good relations with Russia and the Central Asian countries. The mutual trust among them ensures China has stable northern and northwestern borders. Yet, to its east and south, the Korean Peninsula crisis, Japan, the Taiwan question and the South China Sea disputes all represent challenges that are being stirred up by the United States behind the scenes. In this sense, India is only a secondary challenge to China. The southwestern border is not as stable as the north, yet it is not so troublesome as the east, where regional troubles could escalate into global crises at any time, if poorly handled.

So if China gets along well with India, it can concentrate its energy to its east, even if relations are fraught, India does not threaten China as much as the US.