Indians may legitimately fear China's growth as a global power but this need not be so and the two countries can in fact have a lot of synergy, Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury said on Thursday.
"A synergy between India and China will go a long way in bridging the North-South divide" at global trade talks, Yechury said at a book release function at the Observer Research Foundation here. He spoke on "The Rise of China: Asian and European Perspectives".
Yechury, who recently visited China heading a delegation of his Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), said New Delhi's dominance in IT and software and Beijing's in manufacturing and hardware could combine well internationally.
"Such a new economic synergy will have an impact on the world," he said. "Rise of China is not something we ought to fear. It could be complimentary (to our growth)."
He admitted at the same time that this might not be a "very popular perception" in India, where many experts feel that Beijing's strategic goals would eventually harm New Delhi, both in this region and beyond.
But Yechury argued that if one believed in a multi-polar world, then Sino-Indian friendship would be a natural part of such a process.
{{/usCountry}}But Yechury argued that if one believed in a multi-polar world, then Sino-Indian friendship would be a natural part of such a process.
{{/usCountry}}"(China's growth) is going to be a positive factor in a multi-polar world," he said. "From that perspective, China's growth is going to contribute in a positive way."
India, he pointed out, was herself placed well to play a positive role between the two "triangles" - the India-South Africa-Brazil grouping and a Russia-China-India alliance.
"The two triangles," he said, "would go a long way in building a new world order vis-à-vis WTO."
"I am not discounting or belting the fears arising from the rise of China," the CPI-M leader said.
But he underlined that economic and political space would grow for both India and China to co-exist and collaborate.