Hindustan Times
It’s time India took steps to contain China
India has not learnt any lessons from the 1962 war with China.
Most wars are won or lost for military reasons. But few leave a strategic and political legacy as divisive and debated as the Indo-Chinese war of 1962.
Fifty years after the ill-fated conflict, there is still debate on whether it was really a “war” or a “border conflict”. Then, Marxists, in private conversations at least, are still unwilling to admit that China was the aggressor. To them, India remains the villain of the piece. There is also a school of thought that maintains that the humiliation of 1962 could have been turned into glory if only India had used its (then) superior air force.
But all these arguments, debates and discussions are in the realm of semantics.
The fact is that the conflict has left a scar on the collective consciousness of the nation that half a century has not been able to erase.
What was the strategic outcome of the war?
• Globally, chairman Mao decisively scuttled Jawaharlal Nehru’s ambitions of emerging as the voice of the Third World;
• In this continent, China told the (still under-developed) south east Asian countries that India didn’t have the wherewithal to become their leader on the world stage; and
• Within China, it cemented Mao’s political position, under serious threat following a disastrous socialist experiment called “Great Leap Forward” that resulted in the deaths of millions of Chinese people, as the Supreme Leader.
Fifty years later, India is still paying the price of that defeat.
The situation, though, is vastly different now.
China is on the verge of emerging as a “great power”.
India, on the other hand, is in danger of being ousted from the club of “emerging economies”, collectively called BRIC, that was supposed to succeed Europe, the US and Japan as the nations of the future.
Today, we still don’t have a strategic doctrine to emerge as a great power.
We’re still unsure about how to deal with China (and Pakistan).
And we’re completely undecided on how to engage powers like the US and Japan that can help us checkmate the dragon at our doorstep.
It has become fashionable in some circles within India’s power elite to ridicule India’s great power aspirations vis-à-vis China. They point to the growing disparities in a variety of economic, social and military indicators to propagate the theory that this is a lost race; the sooner India accepts the fact the better.
“China doesn’t care about India,” they say.
“China doesn’t remember the 1962 war,” they add.
“India is not even a part of China’s collective consciousness.”
Rubbish!
China is following Sun Tzu’s prescription that positioning and deception are all-important in any conflict. Today, India has to contend with China in its backyard – Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Of these, Nepal and Sri Lanka lie within India’s strategic sphere. Yet, we see China looming large in these countries. It’s part of its so-called “string of pearls” strategy to hem India in and keep it rooted to its region.
Every (feeble and politically tentative) Indian effort to break out of its South Asian straitjacket is beaten back with threats, ridicule and rhetoric.
Result: we don’t have a presence in China’s backyard.
There’s no dearth of people telling us that this is just as well.
“China’s gone too far ahead,” we’re told. Trying to compete, these voices add, is fraught with danger.
Left unsaid is the threat – and a fear – of a 1962 redux.
Medieval Europe offers a good template to compare our current situation with. At different times, Spain, Portugal, Prussia, France and England threatened to emerge as the pre-eminent power in Europe.
Each time, other countries ganged up against the pre-eminent power of the day to prevent a pan-European hegemony.
That is what India must do now to prevent Beijing from emerging as the effective “capital” of Asia. Japan Inc., which played a massive role in China’s industrial revolution, is now looking for other safe investment destinations following the spat between China and Japan over Spratly Islands.
New Delhi should immediately form a high power group to woo Japanese investors to make India their home. A beginning has been made with the rail freight corridor project that can, potentially, channel billions of dollars of Japanese investments India’s way. Decisive follow-up action is necessary.
Then, Asia’s “arc of democracy”, from Japan to India, should logically be India’s sphere of influence. But the Indian government’s pusillanimity and indecisiveness have made countries in this arc wary of cozying up to New Delhi.
And finally, of course, there’s the US factor. India and the US have no strategic, territorial or military disputes. Both countries share common values and goals – like liberal democratic values. Yet, there’s hesitation in New Delhi on taking ties to their logical conclusion.
It’s time India decided, like China seems to have, to expand its areas of influence.
But is the government up to it?
On the 50th anniversary of India’s most traumatic military defeat and international humiliation, it is worth pondering over these issues.
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http://pulse.yahoo.com/_URSXATBEMZ7HUAB3OH36PLYWDM
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http://exponentialage.blogspot.com/
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http://twitter.com/Adrian_Wainer
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anil Reply:
October 7th, 2012 at 8:09 pm
India cannot even contain its corrupt politicians (rather it is contained by the corrupts) and it now wants to c o n t a i n China! This guy must be drunk when wrote this or watching too much Bollywood movies for inspiration in life!
I am 1000% sure China would not even bother to respond to this considering children are supposed to behave in childish manner!
This is more of a story to go into Children book rather than appear as an article in any respectable journal!
[Reply]
Anonymous Reply:
October 7th, 2012 at 8:31 pm
And China has no corrupt leaders right ?
How much does trolling for the Chinese communist party pay ?? It must pay so well if you can orally defecate so frequently without even countering a single argument with logic or facts.
[Reply]
dasg Reply:
October 7th, 2012 at 8:42 pm
Mao’s son, daughter and grandson are not running communist party. Despite one party state, there is more democracy and severe punishment for corruption than India.
Anonymous Reply:
October 7th, 2012 at 9:28 pm
LOL nice try but unfortunately for you, we in India operate on facts.
The difference is NOBODY voted for Mao in the first place, while Nehru was voted in 5 times!! And how can there be “democracy” in a one-party state when the “demo” can’t vote ? Even Hong Kong is a sham of a democracy compared to any city in India.
Unlike China, Indians don’t need “patriotic education”
camps to teach us how the “ruling party” is so great. If “severe” punishments for corruption is so effective how come Chinese government officers are hiding in US embassy afraid for their lives ??
Sorry, but your arguments are nonsense.
Anonymous Reply:
October 7th, 2012 at 9:30 pm
The reason Mao’s son/daughter/grandson are not running the communist party is because unlike Nehru, Mao spent most of this time with prostitutes than with his wife.
Anil Reply:
October 7th, 2012 at 9:48 pm
Yes, they have corruption problem too but they do address that quickly and swiftly. There is no society or country in the world which does not have corruption but all that matters is how one addresses it. In India’s case corruption controls the leaders where it should have been the case other way around!
(And yes they have other problems too but being wise and sensible they are slowly moving toward freeworld – just in case you want to ask that questions again).
Anonymous Reply:
October 7th, 2012 at 9:57 pm
If “justice” is simply catching one corrupt official and executing him publicly like some Medieval jungle, then sure they are “dealing” with corruption.
But like a free and civilized society that through the popular will of the people chooses to address corruption like the Anna Hazare movement is something China has “replicated” or implemented then they have been keeping it a very good secret!
LOL
kavi Reply:
October 7th, 2012 at 10:44 pm
No need to hide for Indians anywhere as there is no one who would question them? India is a banana republic you can get away with just anything! Do not try to be righteous, India is a hell hole, do not live in a denial, nothing can be done about it, no matter how the Indian literate dummies think.
Anonymous Reply:
October 8th, 2012 at 8:38 am
Yes for the mentally challenged Communist fruitcake – India is the banana republic while the worlds largest open air prison where people are burning themselves alive because they can’t live in that hell hole is “paradise”. Tell me, do you get paid to knuckle pound such rubbish or are you just so far removed from reality that you would do this for free ?
The only denial here is by trolls like you who are trying desperately to prove that China is “democratic” and “free” ! IF it wasn’t so ridiculous I would pity you!
anil Reply:
October 7th, 2012 at 11:32 pm
In a ideal world what you say is right, provided, yes provided there is a link between what is written in the book or even in constitution and what is followed. But given the status India is in where aspirations and legitimate rights of people are thwarted (not much better than in communists countries) by the mafia disguising as upholders of democracy, anything must be better than this and people deserve some change. Imagine a burden one is creating on humanity with 1 billion people who are automatically going to be a drag unless the course of direction is changed and they start breathing fresh air letting others do the same. I mean if it continues like this no one but anti-socials and terrorists will reap the most of the benefits of chaos simply because terrorists will be more determined then those who are opposing them and they will bought out in the race (it is probably already happening in India directly or indirectly).
Anonymous Reply:
October 8th, 2012 at 6:28 am
Clearly, your knowledge of China is severely limited if you are going to make such ignorant statements.
India may not be perfect but compared to a nation like China, even an Indian Dalit beggar enjoys 1000 times more rights and dignity in the eyes of the Indian government than even the richest Chinese businessman does in the eyes of China’s government.
Not even the poorest Indian would ever agree to live in a repressive society like China no matter how much money you pay them – this is why even today Tibetans are escaping to India. And not just Tibetans, followers of Falun Dafa, artists like Ai Weiwei, even a blind man like Chen Guangcheng have tried to escape China and openly criticize their government’s repressive polices that see their people as slaves to exploit for the pride of the Communist party. At least in India, people have legitimate rights that are guaranteed by the constitution, upheld by the courts and bound to the government – in china no such things exist. The government in China can pass any law, seize anybody’s home, force people to live anywhere it wishes and arrest/detain anybody for any length of time without charge!
To compare the two systems is simply ignorant of all the facts. India may not be perfect and may not be orderly but it is free and it is far more respectful of its citizens than the PRC ever has been!
The best thing about India is that if you feel that something is wrong, you have the power to change it instead of simply complaining on a forum. You can campaign for change, you can stand for elections and you can enact policies that you believe are right within the bounds of the law. In China, anybody who questions the legitimacy of the Communist party is thrown in jail never to be heard from again.
vasant Reply:
May 31st, 2013 at 2:07 pm
Agree!
But why the progress in general is so slow?
Why after 65 years of independence we have to give preferential treatment to some in education , govt. jobs etc?
Why development schemes are dragging for years?
Why the treatment is different for different religion/s in case of personal law?
serenity Reply:
October 8th, 2012 at 5:19 am
omg..dont compare india to china at least…i cant believe it india being a democratic have left with nothing like democracy..n bro if u believe in facts and figures u can check it out the dam-breaking figures of molestation, rapes,abductions,riots n CORRUPTION…our country is on the peak of declining…china is one of the advanced n developed nations full of justice,law n strength..they dont decieve their citizens by doing scams,disorder in law,,,n a long list….how many scams u heard of them…they dot afraid of the corrupt arsed nations like india…globally indians are disliked nowadays just cus of the illiterates,greedy n brainless politicians mass…
Anonymous Reply:
October 8th, 2012 at 6:16 am
Have you checked out the figures for crimes in China bro?? Just because you see big buildings and highways doesn’t make a nation a “developed” nation when people still can’t own land or move freely insider their own country!
LoL full of justice and law ? You mean like how Bo Xilai was so “law abiding” ? Or how Ai Weiwei is treated so “justly” ??
Just because you are ignorant of the “scams” of China doesn’t mean everybody else is – please do some research on Chine before blindly accepting Chinese communist propaganda.
First make Facebook and Twitter available legally in China, then tell me how “developed”, “just” and “law abiding” China is!