India should avoid ‘entanglement’ in South China Sea, says Chinese media

BEIJING: India should avoid “unnecessary entanglement” in the South China Sea dispute during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Delhi to prevent it becoming yet “another factor” to impact bilateral ties, a state-run Chinese daily said on Tuesday.

“India may want to avoid unnecessary entanglement with China over the South China Sea debate during Wang’s visit if the country wishes to create a good atmosphere for economic cooperation, which would include reducing tariffs on made-in-India products exported to China amid the ongoing free trade talk known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership,” an article in the state-run Global Times said.

“India is expected to allow only moderate tariff reduction on made-in-China products under the talks in a bid to preserve its domestic industries. If India wants China to be more generous in terms of tariff reduction, it would be unwise for the country to let its relationship with China deteriorate further at this moment,” it said.

The daily said it is puzzling that India is focusing on the South China Sea issue at this moment, a move which it said might risk “unnecessary side effects” to bilateral ties and potentially create obstacles for Indian exporters hoping to increase their presence in China, the world’s second largest importer.

It noted that tensions between China and India have been increasing in recent months owing to a series of political incidents.