Is there room at the dragon's table?

http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/SOU-01-030614.html



Is there room at the dragon's table?
By Swagata Saha
Jun 3, '14

The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in Brazil on July 15 is going to be Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first official foreign visit, suggestive of not just his desire for a strong alliance of emerging nations but also a determination to seek a workable partnership with China to lead the Asian century.

Unfolding geopolitical circumstances in first half of the year have opened a whole new situation for India and for India's new premier.

The Russia-Ukraine crisis, which is largely viewed as the most intense East-West conflict post Cold War, has much relevance in Asia. While the conflict has stalled Russia's relations with the United States and Europe, the signing of a US$400 billion gas deal between Russia and China has opened many Asia possibilities. "The unipolar model of the world is over," declared Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly after sealing the deal with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

China and Russia have also completed a joint naval drill and last month promised more strategic economic cooperation in the Russia-China Business Round Table at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. A much-debated report from the World Bank's International Comparison Program estimated that China may topple the US economy as the world's biggest this year. There has been a long-standing debate among the BRICS nations on substituting the US dollar as the standard international exchange currency, and China seems to be arguing strongly for a role there for its own currency, the yuan. Thus East-West tension and the growing proximity of Russia to Asia in general and China in particular have by default given China more room for action.