'China should have trilateral cooperation with neighbours'

China should take a re-look at its neighbourhood diplomacy to accommodate feelings of countries like India and workout a trilateral cooperation to avoid confrontation, Chinese strategic analysts have said.
Chinese government should take a re-look at neighbourhood diplomacy specially in the backdrop of what is happening in Myanmar, once a close ally of Beijing, and call for trilateral cooperation with India to reduce frictions, an official think tank said today.
"In diplomatic terms, Myanmar is striving to promote neutrality in its foreign policy, in part to hedge against a rising China," Bi Shihong professor at the School of International Studies at China's Yunnan University wrote in an article titled 'Sino-Myanmar ties unshaken by India moves' in state-run Global Times.

The write-up highlighted strategic inroads made by India after the fall of the pro-China military junta in 2011.
"How to handle relations with Myanmar and India, as a result, has become a serious challenge for Beijing's peripheral diplomacy and global strategy," the article said.
Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's last year visit to Nay Pyi Taw and New Delhi's moves to step up strategic cooperation with a new highway between the two countries, the article said Modi has turned India's old "Look East" strategy into the current "Act East" policy during his attendance at last year's 25th ASEAN Summit.

"As New Delhi sees Beijing as a potential threat, it aims at counterbalancing the Asian powerhouse and gaining strategic advantage by promoting close bonds with Nay Pyi Taw," it said.

The article said China-Myanmar friendship will not be much affected by India's "aggressive" eastward strategy.
"In the process of deepening cooperation with Myanmar, China should not merely ensure that both sides will benefit, but also take into account the feelings of neighbouring countries, including India, by creating opportunities for trilateral cooperation," it said.
The article is one of few in the state media calling for a rethink of China's policy in the neighbourhood investing in individual leaders and institutions without taking into account future consequences.
Bi Shihong argued that Myanmar is sober-minded about its precarious location between the dragon and the elephant, so it's keen on using this geopolitical advantage to gain maximum interests while maintaining its own independency. It longs to garner a share of India's market to ramp up its economy."

"Myanmar is an important partner to help safeguard China's southwestern region as well as a major passage linking China and the Indian Ocean", it said.
"India's cooperation with China in Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, is helpful in displaying its image as a great power and seeking win-win outcomes, while confrontation will help no one," it said.