Xi Jinping sees PM Modi as a leader who is willing to stand up for Indian interests: US expert

WASHINGTON: Chinese President Xi Jinping sees Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a leader who is willing to stand up for Indian interests and to work together with other countries in the region that are looking to impose constraints on China, a top American Chinese expert has said.

"I think that Xi Jinping sees Prime Minister Modi as a leader who is willing to stand up for Indian interests and to work together with other countries in the region that are looking to impose constraints on China, and particularly the US and Japan, and that's something, I think Beijing is worried about," Bonnie S Glaser from Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) told PTI in an interview.

Glaser, a senior adviser for Asia and the director of the China Power Project at CSIS, a top American think-tank, based in Washington DC, felt that China does not sees itself as benefitting from a tense relationship with India. "Very early on Xi Jinping went to Delhi and tried to engage with Prime Minister Modi. I think he had hoped that India would have a policy that would not challenge Chinese interest. But I think it has really not worked out that way as he's continued to be involved in the South China Sea," she noted.

"There are obviously differences between the two countries, in the Indian Ocean and other maritime areas. China doesn't see itself as benefiting from a tense relationship with India. After all, the two countries share a long border," said Glaser, who is keeping a close watch on the developments in Doklam.