Round The World
New Delhi, 1 September 2023
China’s New Map
AN UNDECLARED WAR
By Dr. D.K. Giri
(Secretary General, Assn for Democratic Socialism)
China
has done it again. Beijing has brought out a new map that claims vast swathes
of Indian Territory in the North-East and the entire South China Sea. That too
after Narendra Modi’s active participation in BRICS, subsequent one-to-one
meeting with Xi Jinping and the perceived thaw in the relationship in the run
up to G-20 Summit next week in New Delhi. All the efforts and expectations on
normalisation of relations seem to end in smoke. As we have persistently
maintained in this column, China’s belligerence goes unabated, New Delhi needs
to seriously rethink its China strategy.
The
Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources brought out a map on 28 August that shows
within China’s borders all of Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chinn. Expectedly,
New Delhi has reacted strongly to the new map. The External Affairs Minister S.
Jaishankar said next day on 29 August that the Government of India, “is very
clear about what is our territory and making absurd claims does not make other
peoples’ territories yours.” Recall, Beijing had in 2019 strongly objected to
an Indian map showing the newly-created Union Territory of Ladakh. New Delhi
had underlined to Beijing that the map had not changed India’s external
borders.
Despite
India’s clarification on the above said map, Beijing did not seem to withdraw
its strong protest. Now, in response to India’s protest, Chinese Foreign
Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that the map was a part of a routine
exercise, “It is a routine practice for China to exercise sovereignty in
accordance with the law. We hope the relevant side can stay objective and calm,
and refrain from over-interpreting it.” In fact, he is reiterating the claim
made in the map. How ridiculous!
It seems
obvious that China is testing India. Also, the timing of the cartographic
aggression is perhaps to undermine India’s stature in the eyes of the world as
it hosts the powerful G-20 Summit with several world leaders participating. New
Delhi should have no doubt that Beijing has an incorrigible appetite for
territories. It has territorial disputes with all its neighbours. It sees India
as its competitor in the geo-politics of the region. New Delhi needs to factor this into its
strategy vis-à-vis China.
New
Delhi may have to continue with its twin strategy of containing and confronting
China. In fact, it has to choose one of them. For now, New Delhi seems to
contain China not confront it unless it is forced to. This may not work.
Beijing should get the vibes from New Delhi that it will be ready to confront
China at any time. From my conversations with Indian Armed Forces, they are
willing and ready to take on China should such an eventuality occur. They are
sure that the preparedness as well as the capacity of our Armed Forces is
qualitatively much different from what it was in 1962. They say, “Although we
may be smaller in size, our determination and commitment is greater than that
of Chinese PLA”.
War is
avoidable any day. In Indian tradition and culture, peace is always preferred
to war. Remember, Lord Krishna’s effort to achieve peace and avoid the epic
battle of Mahabharata. He himself went to the Kuru dynasty in Hastinapur as the
messenger of peace. He advised those itching for war the tragic consequence of
any war on both sides in terms of loss of men and material, many innocents
sacrificing their lives for no fault of theirs. Having noted that, let us also
remember that Lord Krishna was clearly committed to protecting the virtuous (Dharma)
and to destroying the evil (Adharma). While talking peace and giving
everyone opportunities to embrace it, he was preparing for a decisive war to
establish dharma. As the omniscient God, he knew that war was inevitable,
because of persistence of Adharma by Kauravas.
The
ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is evoking the organising principles in our Vedas
and epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata. So, it is expected that the government
will do well to recall the above anecdote so popularly presented in the long-running
TV serial Mahabharata in dealing with China. That said, one is conscious that
armed confrontations in the present era, influenced by globalised economy and
technology, tend to be global. So, the war between Russia and Ukraine is not
just bilateral: it is global as Ukraine is said to be almost the proxy of the
United States and its allies. That is why New Delhi should start consolidating
its strategic alliances in confronting China.
Although
we have discussed many a time in this column India’s prospective allies
vis-à-vis China it needs briefly recounting the arguments and analyses in the
wake of the new map brought out by China on the eve of the G-20 Summit in New
Delhi. One strategic argument is that India should stand firm and resolute on
its own. That goes without saying. But pragmatically and in view of global
geo-politics, alliance-building is indispensable. Two countries have been
important for India in relation to its China policy -- the United States and
former Soviet Union, now Russia.
The
prevailing perception about United States is that it likes to fish in the
troubled water. It has done the double-speak on Pakistan. While Washington
recognised Pakistan as a terrorist hub, it continued to arm Pakistan perhaps to
pressure New Delhi. This has created lingering doubts about the dependability
of US as an ally.
The
situation involving USA, China and India has drastically changed. It is no more
India needing US support to confront China. It is US seeking India as an ally
in containing China in the region which will diminish China’s influence in the
world. So, New Delhi’s and Washington’s interests for the first time in their
bilateral history coincide. Both countries must realise that and stop testing
each other’s nerve. The US President Biden is making a maiden visit to New
Delhi in the event of the G-20 Summit.
His huge
entourage indicates Biden’s intention of consolidating ties with India. Narendra
Modi should reciprocate and indicate India’s willingness in deepening India-US
ties in all possible sectors. At the same time, Modi should assert India’s
position to Chinese leadership through the G-20 Summit and in the fringe
meetings.
The
traditional ally USSR does not exit any longer as it was. Its successor Russia
is tied with its own troubles. By badly calculating the war on Ukraine, Russia
has saddled itself in self-created isolation. Russian ‘strong man’ Vladimir
Putin cannot travel for fear of arrest issued by International Criminal Court. He
did not go to Johannesburg to attend the BRICS summit and cannot come to New
Delhi for G-20. So, relying on Russia to restrain China is no more realistic.
In sum, New
Delhi cannot trust Beijing as the latter never keeps its words and excels in
duplicity. Though Beijing is struggling to stabilise its economy and to cope
with the western boycott, it cannot restrain its territorial ambitions. New
Delhi should never be lulled into complacence by its advisors, policy makers,
so-called friendly countries; it must be ready for a multi-pronged defence
preparedness against China.---INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
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