Japan Cannot Counterbalance India's Ties With China: Chinese Daily

BEIJING: Contending that China was not interested in "geopolitical competition" and had "plenty of interests" in common with India, a leading Chinese daily known for its sharp views on India hit out at Japan to observe that "Sino-Indian ties can in no way be counterbalanced by the Japan-India friendship” and dismissed interpretation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks on expansionism as a "media hype".

Though Modi's comment in Tokyo about there being an 18th century expansionist mindset in the world today has made international media see it as an allusion to China, the fact remains that China-India relations are stable as India is "a rational country, displaying an independent foreign policy and loathing being an appendix of any particular power", the Global Times, known for its sharp views on India, said Tuesday.

It underlined that Sino-Indian ties "can in no way be counterbalanced by the Japan-India friendship”, the English-language daily, which is published by the iconic People's Daily group and is largely read by foreigners and expatriates, said.

It reminded that Chinese President Xi Jinping will be paying a state visit to India later this month. “If Japan attempts to form a united front centred on India, it will be a crazy fantasy generated by Tokyo's anxiety of facing a rising Beijing,” it warned.

“Japanese and Western public opinion views his (Modi's) remarks as a clear reference to China, although he did not mention China by name,” the Global Times said in its editorial headlined “Modi-Abe intimacy brings scant comfort” referring to the close rapport Modi enjoys with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.