Mr Wang Yi, Foreign Minister of PRC is coming to India in the midst of the current global crisis in Ukraine. He is testing waters to see if India is amenable to being weaned away from QUAD and the West to join Russia and China for a RIC trilateral. This visit is specially significant in the light of President Biden's comment on India being 'Shaky'. China obviously sees an opportunity. Aadi and I discussed various aspects of China and where it stands today in Part I of our dialogue. In this part the discussion is about the nuances of Sino Indian equations and what it will take for us to veer towards China and the general path ahead for India.
‘Sir, will China invade us?’ ‘We hear China has increased activities on the border’. Chinese consolidation activities on the LAC have prompted such reactions and fears. Lot of such inquiries from citizens within and outside India. Why? Bodies floating down Ganga, mass graves, lack of oxygen, medicines or hospital beds, botched vaccination program, uninterrupted work on Central Vista - all these have eroded our political capital immensely and seeded such doubts. Our national institutions are being compared to ‘rottweilers’ in the media. Economy? Unemployment figures and stock markets – both rattling up. Strangest combination. Rich getting richer and poor getting poorer. An ominous divergence which bodes ill. Leadership? Kis Chidiya ka naam hai bhai? National level paralysis in responding to the second wave. Erosion in comprehensive national power. Many have never experienced India being so weak. Nor did I for that matter. This frightening experience ...
The key to bring China to table as equal will be to address the trade balance. Our make in India initiative has to be given focus and support by Govt. Along with the economic stability, 🇮🇳 has to build capability of our armed forces to be ahead of threats envisaged. Third aspect is our ICT capabilities should be totally indigenous.
ReplyDeleteThe reason for change in tone of GT - Hu XiJin is no more the editor of Global Trash9Times). The new editor is more mellowed down
ReplyDeleteChina cannot ever be trusted to honor even a written agreement. The only thing that matters are the facts on the ground. We should start negotiation from a maximalist point, which should be -at least- independence of Xinjiang & Tibet and settle worst case for independence of Tibet. After they have vacated Tibet, the sanctity of its borders should be the redline for China to prove its peaceful intentions. This may sound idealistic but, China directly on our borders, even if they are "settled", will only be a temporary measure as far as they are concerned.
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